Private arbitration companies: disclosures.

Existing law regulates arbitration conducted pursuant to an arbitration agreement, as specified. Existing law requires a private arbitration company involved in consumer arbitration cases to collect and make certain information regarding those cases available to the public in a computer-searchable format, accessible at the Internet Web site of the private arbitration company, if it has an Internet Web site, and on paper upon request. This bill would require a private arbitration company to collect additional information related to a consumer arbitration case, as specified, and to provide the information in a single cumulative report. The bill would require a private arbitration company to make the report available in a format that allows the public to search and sort the information using readily available software, and to make the report accessible on the private arbitration company's Internet Web site, as specified. The bill would express the intent of the Legislature that private arbitration companies comply with all legal obligations under these provisions, and also would provide that any amendments made by this act to the reporting requirements of a private arbitration company would not apply to consumer arbitrations administered by the private arbitration company before January 1, 2015.