Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 109 Part 1.djvu/927

 PUBLIC LAW 104-88 —DEC. 29, 1995 109 STAT. 911 "(b) ARBITRATION REQUIREMENTS.— "(1) PREVENTION OF SPECIAL ADVANTAGE. —The arbitration that is offered must be designed to prevent a carrier from having any special advantage in any case in which the claimant resides or does business at a place distant from the carrier's principal or other place of business. "(2) NOTICE OF ARBITRATION PROCEDURE. —The carrier must provide the shipper an adequate notice of the availability of neutral arbitration, including a concise easy-to-read, accurate summary of the arbitration procedure, any applicable costs, and disclosure of the legal effects of election to utilize arbitration. Such notice must be given to persons for whom household goods are to be transported by the carrier before such goods are tendered to the carrier for transportation. "(3) PROVISION OF FORMS.— Upon request of a shipper, the carrier must promptly provide such forms and other information as are necessary for initiating an action to resolve a dispute under arbitration. " (4) INDEPENDENCE OF ARBITRATOR.— Each person authorized to arbitrate or otherwise settle disputes must be independent of the parties to the dispute and must be capable, as determined under such regulations as the Secretary may issue, to resolve such disputes fairly and expeditiously. The carrier must ensure that each person chosen to settle the disputes is authorized and able to obtain from the shipper or carrier any material and relevant information to the extent necessary to carry out a fair and expeditious decisionmaking process. "(5) APPORTIONMENT OF COSTS.— N O shipper may be charged more than half of the cost for instituting an arbitration proceeding that is brought under this section. In the decision, the arbitrator may determine which party shall pay the cost or a portion of the cost of the arbitration proceeding, including the cost of instituting the proceeding. "(6) REQUESTS. —The carrier must not require the shipper to agree to utilize arbitration prior to the time that a dispute arises. If the dispute involves a claim for $1,000 or less and the shipper requests arbitration, such arbitration shall be binding on the parties. If the dispute involves a claim for more than $1,000 and the shipper requests arbitration, such arbitration shall be binding on the parties only if the carrier agrees to arbitration. "(7) ORAL PRESENTATION OF EVIDENCE. — The arbitrator may provide for an oral presentation of a dispute concerning transportation of household goods by a party to the dispute (or a party's representative), but such oral presentation may be made only if all parties to the dispute expressly agree to such presentation and the date, time, and location of such presentation. "(8) DEADLINE FOR DECISION. — The arbitrator must, as expeditiously as possible but at least within 60 days of receipt of written notification of the dispute, render a decision based on the information gathered; except that, in any case in which a party to the dispute fails to provide in a timely manner any information concerning such dispute which the person settling the dispute may reasonably require to resolve the dispute, the arbitrator may extend such 60-day period for a reasonable period of time. A decision resolving a dispute may include

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