Hat tip to Nonprofit Quarterly

The AARP recent publicized eight typical veterans scams known to target seniors. Among the examples are “Bogus charities that claim to benefit veterans … targeting patriotic older donors.” The AARP recommended the usual, that donors check with the Better Business Bureau, the Wise Giving Alliance, Charity Navigator, and GuideStar to verify the charities seeking their donations.

The striking dimension of the story of troubled and troubling veterans charities is that some of these charities go on and on and on. The Chicago Tribune reported at the end of August about a charity called Viet Now based in Rockford, Illinois. Most of the money donated to Viet Now last year, about 85 percent, went to telephone solicitors. Although some $1.4 million was raised in the name of Viet Now in 2014, it spent little on its “programs,” such as they were, including scholarships to the children of veterans to a grand total of $3,985. Since 2003, 90 percent of the $24 million raised by Viet Now has gone to telemarketers.

Even more disturbing, the shift away from the civil justice system has gone beyond disputes about money. Nursing homes, obstetrics practices and private schools increasingly use forced-arbitration clauses to shield themselves from being taken to court over alleged discrimination, elder abuse, fraud, hate crimes, medical malpractice and wrongful death.

For the most part, Congress has looked the other way. Federal regulators, however, are starting to fight back. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is expected to propose a rule soon to forbid arbitration clauses that ban class actions in cases involving financial services and products. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which is expected to issue updated nursing home regulations next year, is considering a ban on forced arbitration clauses in nursing home contracts.

Reversing the broader trend of forced arbitration, however, will require public outcry loud and long enough to stir the White House and Congress to action. Many people interviewed in The Times’s series did not realize that their right to sue had been lost until they needed it. A common refrain was the disbelief that this could happen in America. But it is happening, and it needs to stop.

Moreover, records show that the council hasn’t always had complete information about all the violations and fines at nursing homes owned by or affiliated with applicants it reviewed. That’s because the Department of Health, which prepares character-and-competence recommendations for the council, doesn’t report them all.

The department’s assessments of Landa and other owners of SentosaCare homes have routinely found that the facilities provided a “substantially consistent high level of care”—the standard owners must meet to receive council approval.
Yet the agency’s assessments in 15 separate ownership applications since 2013 did not mention at least 20 federal fines paid by the group’s homes, records show. In more than a dozen cases, the department reported “no repeat violations,” even when a SentosaCare home had been cited multiple times for the same serious deficiency.

Other than a house or a college education, buying a car is the largest purchase many Americans make. There's a lot of stress associated with it. WGLT's Charlie Schlenker talks with Dan Deneen, a McLean County Attorney who frequently represents car buyers against dealerships. To buy a car the low stress way, Deneen says approaching a car purchase should be done systematically.

When you go to a car lot, Deneen also says,
take an extensive test drive.

The nation’s paper of record, The New York Times, published an investigative series of front-page stories exposing the corporate bullying tactic of forced arbitration. The stories are based on thousands of court records, interviews with lawyers, judges, arbitrators and the people who have been affected by forced arbitration in 35 states.   

The first story, “Arbitration Everywhere, Stacking the Decks of Justice", describes the pernicious practice of forced arbitration, a get-out-of-jail free card for corporate wrongdoing.

The second story, "In Arbitration, a Privatization of the Justice System", tells stories of consumers who lost their right to go to court when a school, a car dealership, and even a nursing home had done them wrong.

The third and final story, “In Religious Arbitration, Scripture is the Rule of Law”, focuses on how religious tribunals, once used to settle family disputes and spiritual debates, are now being used to sort out secular problems like claims of financial fraud and wrongful death.

Many individuals and families featured in the NYT series have also shared their stories on Take Justice Back of how forced arbitration impacted their lives, including Debbie Brenner.

These NYT articles are a momentous addition to our ongoing advocacy efforts to end forced arbitration. You can make a difference by spreading the word and further exposing the corporations that abuse the fine print! Join us in the fight to end forced arbitration:

Read and Share the Articles Online: Share on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Include the hashtag #ForcedArbitration

Sign the Petitions:

Tell the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to protect consumers and stop forced arbitration: Click here

Tell nursing homes to stop stealing seniors’ rights: Click here

Send this email to Your Friends & Family: warn them to read the fine print and encourage them to become a Take Justice Back Activist

We know that forced arbitration is important to you and we hope you’ll continue to stand with us in the months ahead as we work to end this attack on consumer rights.

Thank you!

The Take Justice Back Team