How to opt out of Venmo’s new arbitration clause

Keep your rights to class action
By Barbara Krasnoff  Apr 25, 2022, 2:52pm EDT

. . .  We’ll tell you how you can opt out — but first, a little info about arbitration clauses.
Arbitration clauses have become extremely popular in agreements between companies and consumers. (For example, here’s a 2019 article explaining how to opt out of the arbitration clause that emerged when Apple added a credit card.)

It’s not surprising. When you agree to arbitration, you are basically putting most of the advantages in the company’s court.

For example, most arbitration clauses deny you the opportunity to become part of a class action suit or to individually sue the company. Instead, an arbitrator (often chosen by the company) reviews the case and then makes a ruling that cannot be appealed.


MOST ARBITRATION CLAUSES DENY YOU THE OPPORTUNITY TO BECOME PART OF A CLASS ACTION SUIT

And, in fact, this is exactly what the arbitration clause that Venmo is adding is meant to do.

. . .

here’s the short version of what you need to do:

• 
  
• Download and print out the Venmo Opt-Out Notice Form
  
• Fill out the entire form
  
• Mail it (yes, the kind of mail with an envelope and a stamp) to:
  

PayPal, Inc.
Attn: Litigation Department
Re: Venmo Opt-Out Notice
2211 North First Street
San Jose, CA 95131


1) .... if you accepted the user agreement for the first time on or after May 23rd, 2022, then your form has to be postmarked up to 30 days after that date.

If you’ve been a Venmo member for longer, you have until June 22nd, 2022.

2) ... Send it so it can be traced or, even better, so somebody has to sign for it.

This will cost more, but if you foresee yourself possibly needing to take Venmo to court anytime in the future (especially if you plan to use the service extensively), then it pays to be sure.

Have you EVER met an investor who said "I voted hoping that the President would make it easier for scam artists to steal my life savings, the way it is in China?"  

I haven't, either.

The Washington Post story today shows how an unregulated securities market, without adequate government oversight, can harm investors.  It's a story about how a rapidly growing number of people in China have lost their life savings to Ponzi schemes.  

This post:  https://bit.ly/2PCOEQKtraces how the proposals from some Trump SEC Commissioners to eliminate private securities fraud class actions would make it far more likely that Americans would be subject to the same kind of fraud that has been spreading in China.  It discusses how securities class actions have gotten important remedies in the U.S. for victims of Ponzi schemes in the past.  I hope that you'll read the blog post.

From Paul Bland of Public Justice:

There are a couple of things about this case, as explained in the video, that are striking. 

First, the corporate behavior – a payday lender misleading customers, getting them into a cycle of debt, lying about its nature, abusing the law – is truly ugly. Nearly every American should hate this kind of behavior, and see why it’s important for the legal system to address it.

Second, the video explains how the civil justice system, and class actions, got real justice for the consumers: tens of millions of dollars in refunds to consumers, illegal debts wiped away, and peoples’ credit records fixed. 

Third, the video focuses a great deal on Mr. Inetianbor, showing that the class action wasn’t just a lawyer-driven thing, but that the consumer played a huge role in protecting other consumers and working to fight this problem.

Finally, the video helps explain how vile a system forced arbitration is, and why the defendants’ efforts to use forced arbitration were a real scam.