The United States Constitution guarantees you the right to litigate your case in the courts and the right to a jury trial. Signing an Arbitration Agreement waives these rights.
Don’t Sign Away Your Constitutional Rights!
Consumers may encounter arbitration agreements when purchasing goods or services in various sectors, including banking, credit cards, financial services, home building, insurance and telecommunications.
When financing a vehicle or home improvement, entering a cell phone contract, opening a new bank account or obtaining approval for a credit card, consumers must look to see if there is an arbitration agreement as part of the contract. It may appear within the written contract, be buried in the fine print or terms and conditions, or possibly in the “Click” of an online agreement.
Businesses favor arbitration
Many consumer-facing companies have trended towards including an arbitration clause in their contracts. This “forced arbitration” is a form of resolving disputes outside of the courts. Instead of being able to go to trial before a judge and jury, cases are presented to an arbitrator who decides the case.
Consumers will be told that arbitration is a favorable term and that should a dispute and litigation be necessary, it would be faster and cheaper to litigate. Cheap litigation only favors the company—NOT YOU.
Avoid being stuck in arbitration.
(1) Do Not sign an Arbitration Agreement
If possible, do not sign an arbitration agreement when signing a contract. Sometimes an arbitration agreement is a stand-alone contract that you are not required to sign. If you are presented with an arbitration agreement, ask whether it is required. Do not agree to arbitration if possible.
(2) Read the Arbitration Agreement
Carefully read the language in the arbitration agreement. Sometimes the agreement will allow you to opt out of arbitration by submitting a request within a given time period. If the agreement permits you to do that, DO THAT! Opt-out clauses are often found in credit card agreements. Once an optout deadline passes, it’s too late.
(3) Negotiate the Arbitration Clause
Negotiate out the arbitration clause in your contract. If you have leverage (like at a car dealership), demand to remove or modify the arbitration clause.
(4) Strike the arbitration clause on the contract and initial the change.
Often many contracts are provided and executed electronically, making on-the-spot changes to a contract difficult or impossible. But if your contract is on paper, strike out the arbitration clause and initial your change. Make it clear that you did not agree to arbitration when you signed the contract, and that you only agreed to the remaining terms.
Seek Help from Experienced Consumer Lawyers
Flitter Milz has
litigated the enforceability of arbitration agreements countless times. Send your contract for a no-cost legal review. Our attorneys will determine whether your arbitration clause is binding.
You should not have to give up your Constitutional right to trial by jury.
Call Toll Free: 888-668-1225
Email: consumers@consumerslaw.com
Some common traps could leave you stuck with a bad deal for decades when entering a contract for solar panels. Nationally recognized consumer protection attorney Andy Milz of Flitter Milz in Narberth, PA, was interviewed recently on CNET for an article and offered 4 Financial Red Flags to potential solar panel customers.
On Monday, June 24, 2024, 
In addition, the May 2024 edition of Super Lawyers has included Flitter Milz attorneys 
Flitter Milz looks forward to continuing to achieve successful results for consumers that have suffered the challenges of every day consumer credit matters involving credit reporting privacy and accuracy issues, wrongful vehicle repossessions, and unfair or deceptive business practices.
Rather than being interchangeable with punitive damages, treble damages under the UTPCPL are a separate remedy available to consumers wholly independent of any entitlement to punitive damages or attorney fees.
Drug companies have filed lawsuits in courts across the country challenging the Constitutionality of the new 
“We’re gratified by the Court’s ruling in this case and happy to be part of a top-tier team that made it happen,” says Milz. “Whenever we can help consumers, particularly the elderly, save money on necessities, we consider it a job well done.”
The IRA contains several reforms designed to lower the high cost of prescription drugs and make them more accessible to patients, including seniors enrolled in Medicare. The program relies on a process in which the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which is responsible for implementing Medicare, and the manufacturer of selected drugs negotiate the prices at which drugs will be made available to Medicare providers and drug plans.
NPLS will direct the cy pres funds to continue their work in assisting disadvantaged consumers in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
This past summer our attorneys visited Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey and Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to educate military lawyers (commonly known as Judge Advocates General or “JAGs”) about common scams targeting servicemembers and how consumer protection laws exist to give our men and women in uniform some measure of relief.
Young and impressionable servicemembers often become targets of scammers. Factors such as reliable pay checks and great military benefits, as well as being subject to sudden deployment and relocation, make servicemembers easy prey for payday lenders, buy-here-pay-here auto dealers, and sub-prime finance companies.
Fortunately, the “Military Lending Act” places caps on interest rates to be charged, mandates certain disclosures, and prohibits the use of arbitration clauses in credit agreements. A violating seller can face punitive damages and having to pay the servicemember’s attorney fees.
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Our firm gets a lot of calls from consumers who are senior citizens, or from their children, after they have realized that the “free” solar panel deal they were promised is nothing of the sort.
Every week, we hear similar complaints from consumers who met with a solar sales representative and felt taken. Statements such as the following may be deceptive or outright false:
Salespeople are likely to tout a 30% federal solar tax credit (for 2023). Consumers must be careful, this is not cash or a refund, but rather a tax credit to count against the taxes you pay. Some seniors pay only minimal taxes or no taxes at all (if, for instance, their sole income is Social Security) and may not benefit at all from this promised “government program.” Other times, the company keeps the tax credit for itself.
Salesmen also like to tout a “no cost installation” or “no upfront cost” because this makes it sound like the consumer is getting the solar panels for free. That is not the case. With programs like solar leases or power purchase agreements (PPAs), it is the solar company, not the consumer, who owns the panels that are installed on the roof.
While the solar company may not charge upfront for the panels and the installation, the consumer is bound to pay for the energy that’s produced by the panels at ever-increasing rates – sometimes for 25-years or more – forcing some elderly consumers to pay expensive rates until they’re over 100 years old. All the while, they are still obligated to pay their electric bill.
Solar sales can be expensive and burdensome to consumers. Solar salesmen know this, and that’s why they use electronically displayed and signed contract documents (instead of a paper contract that you hold and keep) with deceptive language to hide the agreement from elderly consumers by using a bum email address or making up an email address that only the sellers control.
