What is arbitration?

An alternative to court.

In arbitration, a neutral third-party arbitrator (“Arbitrator”) resolves Disputes in an informal hearing, usually on an individual basis.

Is it different from court and jury trials?

Yes.

The hearing is private. There is no jury. It is usually less formal, faster, and less expensive than a court lawsuit. Pre-hearing fact-finding is limited. Appeals are limited. Courts rarely overturn arbitration awards.

Can you opt out of this Agreement?

Yes, within 60 days.

If you do not want this Agreement to apply, you must send us a signed notice within 60 calendar days after you first use our website, provide us your personal information, or apply for the products and services we offer. Send the notice in writing (not electronically) to: Liberty1 Financial, Attn: Legal/Compliance, 999 E Playa del Norte, Suite 405, Tempe, AZ 85288. Include your name, physical mailing address, telephone number, and email address, and state that you are opting out of this Agreement. Opting out will not affect any other disclosures, consents, or agreements you entered into with us, and applies only to this Agreement.

What is this Agreement about?

The parties’ agreement to arbitrate Disputes.

Unless prohibited by applicable law and unless you opt out, you and we agree that either of us may elect to arbitrate, or require arbitration of, any Dispute (as defined below).

Who does this Agreement cover?

You and Clear Vision Financial LLC, d/b/a Liberty1 Financial.

This Agreement governs you and Clear Vision Financial LLC, d/b/a Liberty1 Financial. It also covers our employees, officers, directors, and agents, but only while acting within the scope of providing you the Service. It does not extend to any other Liberty1-affiliated entity, parent, subsidiary, or commonly owned company unless that entity is separately named as a party to the Dispute and has independently agreed in writing to arbitrate.

What Disputes does this Agreement cover?

Nearly all Disputes between you and us, except certain Disputes about this Agreement itself.

This Agreement governs all “Disputes” that would otherwise be decided in court and that are between you and us. “Disputes” has the broadest reasonable meaning and includes all claims, even indirectly related to your use of our website, your inquiries or application for the products and services we offer, this Agreement, or the relationship between you and us, including our loan-matching programs, any debt settlement referral, past agreements, and privacy and data practices. “Disputes” include initial claims, counterclaims, cross-claims, and third-party claims, and claims based on any constitution, statute, regulation, ordinance, common law rule, contract, or tort, and claims for damages of any type, including injunctive, declaratory, or other equitable relief. It does not include disputes about the validity, enforceability, or scope of this Agreement or of the class action waiver; those are for a court, not an Arbitrator, to decide.

Who handles the arbitration?

Usually the American Arbitration Association (AAA).

Arbitrations are conducted under this Agreement and the rules of the arbitration administrator in effect when the arbitration is started. The administrator will be either: the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”), 120 Broadway, 21st Floor, New York, NY 10271, www.adr.org; or another company picked by written agreement of the parties. If neither option is available, a court with jurisdiction will pick the administrator. No arbitration may be administered without our consent by any administrator that would permit a class arbitration under this Agreement. The Arbitrator must be a lawyer with at least ten years of experience or a retired judge, unless you and we otherwise agree.

Can Disputes be litigated?

Sometimes.

Either party may bring a lawsuit if the other party does not demand arbitration. We will not demand arbitration of any lawsuit you bring as an individual action in small-claims court or an equivalent court, so long as the Dispute remains pending only in that court. Both parties may use lawful self-help remedies, including set-off, and may seek remedies that do not claim money damages, including pre-judgment seizure, injunctions, or equivalent relief.

Are you and we giving up any rights?

Yes.

For any Dispute arbitrated under this Agreement, you and we give up the right to: have a jury decide the Dispute; have a court, other than small-claims court, decide the Dispute; serve as a private attorney general or in a representative capacity in court or in arbitration; join a Dispute with a dispute that someone else has; and bring or be a class member in a class action, in court or in arbitration. The Arbitrator has no authority to conduct any arbitration inconsistent with this section or to issue relief that applies to anyone except you or us individually.

Are you waiving class action rights?

Yes.

COURTS AND ARBITRATORS WILL NOT ALLOW CLASS ACTIONS. If either party elects to arbitrate a Dispute, both parties waive the right to participate in a class action in court or in arbitration, as a representative or a member. You waive the right to bring representative claims, including private attorney general claims to the extent waivable under applicable law. Unless all parties consent in writing, no arbitration may join, consolidate, or bring claims on behalf of two or more individuals or unrelated entities in the same proceeding. No Arbitrator has authority to waive, modify, or decline to enforce this section, and any attempt to do so is invalid. Any challenge to the validity of this section will be decided exclusively by a court, not an Arbitrator or administrator.

Can you or another consumer start a class arbitration?

No.

The Arbitrator may not decide any Dispute on a class or representative basis. You may not pursue, and no Arbitrator may award relief on, any collective or class action against us in arbitration.

Does California or other state law affect this Agreement?

Yes, for certain public injunctive relief claims.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement, if a claim seeks public injunctive relief that cannot lawfully be waived under the law of the state where you reside, that claim will be decided by a court, not an Arbitrator, and will be stayed pending the outcome of arbitration of any individual claims seeking damages or other individual relief. No award in arbitration will determine the rights of, or bind, anyone other than you or us.

What law applies?

The Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”).

This Agreement and the products and services we offer involve interstate commerce. The FAA governs this Agreement. The Arbitrator must apply substantive law consistent with the FAA, must honor statutes of limitation and privilege rights, and is authorized to award all remedies permitted by applicable substantive law, including compensatory, statutory, and punitive damages (subject to constitutional limits that would apply in court), declaratory, injunctive, and other equitable relief, and attorneys’ fees and costs. If this Agreement conflicts with the administrator’s rules, this Agreement governs.

Will this Agreement continue to govern?

Yes, unless you timely opt out.

This Agreement remains effective unless you opt out using the process above, or the parties sign a separate agreement stating otherwise. This Agreement governs if you use our website, provide personal information through an inquiry, apply for our products and services, or enter into an agreement with us, and continues to govern discharge of obligations, including through bankruptcy. It remains effective despite a transaction’s termination, amendment, expiration, or performance.

What must a party do before starting a lawsuit or arbitration?

Send a written Dispute notice and work in good faith to resolve it.

Before starting a lawsuit or arbitration, the complaining party must give the other party written notice of the Dispute, describing it in reasonable detail with supporting facts. If you are the complaining party, send the notice to: Liberty1 Financial, Attn: Legal/Compliance, 999 E Playa del Norte, Suite 405, Tempe, AZ 85288, or to [email protected] [confirm routing inbox]. Include your name, account number if applicable, and a phone number where you can be reached. Once notice is sent, the parties have 30 days to try to resolve the Dispute on an individual basis before either party may proceed.

How does an arbitration start?

Mailing or delivering a demand.

If the parties do not resolve the Dispute within 30 days after notice, the complaining party may commence a lawsuit or an arbitration, subject to this Agreement. To start an arbitration, the complaining party follows the administrator’s rules. If one party begins or threatens a lawsuit, the other party may demand arbitration, including by a motion to compel arbitration. Once an arbitration demand is made, no lawsuit may proceed, and any existing lawsuit must be stayed, unless a court rules otherwise.

Where will any hearing be held?

Reasonably convenient to you.

Any in-person arbitration hearing will take place in the federal judicial district that includes your county of residence at the time the Dispute arose, unless you and we agree to another location, or you prefer to have the hearing at Company’s offices in Maricopa County, Arizona. The Arbitrator may decide that an in-person hearing is unnecessary and resolve the Dispute based on written filings or a conference call.

What about appeals?

Very limited.

Appeal rights under the FAA are limited. The Arbitrator’s award is final and binding. Any court with jurisdiction may enter judgment on the award. No arbitration award will have preclusive effect on any issue or claim in a dispute involving anyone who was not a party to that arbitration, nor will an award in a prior dispute have preclusive effect in a later arbitration between the parties to this Agreement.

Who bears arbitration fees?

Usually, we do.

We will pay all filing, administrative, hearing, and Arbitrator fees if you act in good faith, cannot obtain a waiver of those fees, and ask us to pay. We will always pay any amounts required by applicable law, the administrator’s rules, or to enforce this Agreement.

When will you cover my legal fees and costs?

If you win.

If you prevail in arbitration, we will pay the reasonable fees and costs of your attorneys, experts, and witnesses, to the extent required by applicable law, the administrator’s rules, or to enforce this Agreement. The Arbitrator will not limit an award of these amounts because your Dispute is for a small amount.

Will I ever owe Company’s arbitration or attorneys’ fees?

Only for bad faith.

The Arbitrator may require you to pay our fees only if the Arbitrator finds you acted in bad faith, measured by the standard in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(b), and only to the extent this does not render the Agreement unenforceable.

Can an award be explained?

Yes.

Either party may request a written explanation from the Arbitrator within 14 days of the ruling. The Arbitrator will determine whether to grant that request.

What happens if part of this Agreement cannot be enforced?

The rest continues to apply.

If any part of this Agreement cannot be enforced, the remainder continues to apply, except that: (A) this Agreement (other than this sentence) will be void if a court rules that the Arbitrator may decide a Dispute on a class basis and that ruling is not reversed on appeal; and (B) if a claim seeks public injunctive relief and a court determines that this Agreement’s restriction on relief to third parties is unenforceable as to that claim, the claim for public injunctive relief will be decided in court and any individual claims seeking monetary relief will be arbitrated, with the court proceeding stayed until the arbitration is resolved.

What happens if many similar Disputes are filed against us at once?

They are batched and resolved through bellwether cases, not all decided individually at once.

If 10 or more substantially similar Disputes are asserted against us by, or coordinated with, the same law firm, claims aggregator, or affiliated group of law firms within any 60-day period (a “Mass Filing”), this section governs the sequencing, batching, and fee timing of every Dispute within it, notwithstanding anything else in this Agreement. A Mass Filing will be administered under the mass-arbitration or batch-arbitration rules of the administrator handling it, including the American Arbitration Association’s Mass Arbitration Supplementary Rules if AAA is the administrator, to the extent those rules do not conflict with this section.

How are claims within a Mass Filing chosen to proceed first?

As Bellwether Cases, selected from the batch.

The administrator will designate an initial group of Disputes to proceed first as individual arbitrations on their merits (“Bellwether Cases”), consisting of four (4) Disputes or five percent (5%) of the Mass Filing, whichever is greater, up to a maximum of fifty (50) Bellwether Cases, selected by the administrator using a random or other neutral method, or by agreement of the parties. Every other Dispute within the Mass Filing is stayed pending resolution of the Bellwether Cases.

Do we owe fees on every claim in a Mass Filing as soon as it is filed?

No, only on the active Bellwether Cases.

Filing, administrative, and Arbitrator fees are due only for Bellwether Cases while they are active. Fees for a stayed Dispute are not due unless and until that Dispute is later activated under this section. This does not change who ultimately bears those fees once a Dispute becomes active; the Fees and Awards section above continues to apply to it in full.

What happens after the Bellwether Cases are decided?

The parties have 90 days to resolve the rest using that outcome.

Within ninety (90) days after all Bellwether Cases are finally resolved, the parties will participate in a global mediation, before a mediator agreed upon by the parties or appointed by the administrator, to attempt to resolve the remaining Disputes within the Mass Filing in light of the Bellwether outcomes. Any Dispute not resolved through that process may then be activated and proceeds individually under the ordinary procedures of this Agreement.

Can a Dispute be stayed indefinitely under this section?

No.

No Dispute within a Mass Filing may remain stayed under this section for more than eighteen (18) months after the Mass Filing was identified. Any Dispute still stayed at the end of that period is automatically released to proceed as an individual arbitration under this Agreement’s ordinary procedures, without further batching.

Does this section limit or waive the class action waiver, jury waiver, or any other part of this Agreement?

No.

This section governs only the sequencing, batching, and fee timing of Disputes within a Mass Filing. It does not modify, limit, or waive the class action waiver, the jury trial waiver, the choice of administrator, the allocation of fees once a Dispute is active, or any other provision of this Agreement, each of which continues to apply in full to every Dispute, including those within a Mass Filing.

Is information produced in one Dispute within a Mass Filing confidential?

Yes.

Any information produced in connection with a Dispute within a Mass Filing, including call records, dialer or campaign logs, or consent records, may be used only in that specific arbitration. It may not be disclosed, used, or referenced to solicit, identify, or pursue any other claim or claimant, absent a court or Arbitrator order or our written consent. The administrator or Arbitrator may enter a protective order to enforce this provision.

Who decides whether a group of Disputes is a Mass Filing?

The administrator’s own process for that question, or a court, not the Arbitrator deciding the merits of any individual Dispute.

Any disagreement about whether a group of Disputes constitutes a Mass Filing, or about how this section applies, will be decided under the administrator’s own procedure for that question if one exists, or otherwise by a court of competent jurisdiction, and not by an Arbitrator assigned to decide the merits of an individual Dispute.