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What are my rights to recind an agreement to arbitrate any claims.

I purchased a new car two days ago from a local dealer.. I was told that it was mandatory for me to sign the above mentioned agreement.
What can I do to recind this one item on their Additional Terms & Conditions
Form. On second thought I feel that this agreement leaves me totally unprotected in case of a catastrophic accident due to faulty manufacturing of the vehicle. I addition it frees the dealer from quality control of their repairs.

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Attorney answers (1)

Reputation Level 8
Unfortunately, the law is not very good for you on this point. The judicial system here loves arbitration, since it disposes of a lot of cases that would otherwise be tried in our courts. Accordingly, in most cases, courts will only let parties rescind an agreement to arbitrate if there was fraud involved in the agreement. Basically, this requires that you prove to the court that the opposing party tricked you into signing the agreement, or misled you as to the legal effect of its terms. It sounds like that is probably not the case here.

Another defense to enforcement of an arbitration agreement is that it was signed under "duress." While you could argue that you were under duress because the dealer told you were required to sign it, that argument is not likely to succeed. The dealer telling you you had to agree to the arbitration clause will probably be interpreted as negotiation (i.e., they were telling you that they would not sell you the vehicle unless you agreed to arbitrate disputes), whereas duress is more akin to someone actually holding a gun to your head and requiring you to sign the contract. Probably not applicable here...

With all that said, in the event of some type of accident (or some other situation that leads you to file a claim against a manufacturer), a good plaintiff's lawyer may be able to find holes in the arbitration clause that allow you to avoid that forum. Unfortunately, it is impossible to offer general advice about specific contract provisions without knowing the exact language. If you have concerns about this issue proactively, you should probably retain a lawyer to review the terms of your contract and determine if they are enforceable. Just recognize that a court is unlikely to entertain a cause of action simply attempting to rescind the agreement...and that this issue will probably not be formerly litigated unless and until it becomes relevant (i.e., when you actually file a claim for some other type of personal injury or breach of contract in superior court, and the dealer moves to compel arbitration under the agreement).

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