Creditor wins arbitration, but drops the case??

[phonymoney]

Hello,

 

Any experienced lawyers/ consumers who have experienced something similar, I'd love to hear from you. I initiated arbitration against Citi Bank, but lost the case about 7 months ago. It was for a substantial amount. Thinking that the creditor would go to court to enforce the award, instead, last week i receive a copy for a motion from the creditor filed in my local court to lift the stay on Arbitration, and dismiss the case without prejudice. I'm not complaining, but why on earth did they do that??  And can they sue me again in 1, 2, or 3 years out? Thanks.  

[lheart]

A lot of times they do not pay very good attention to details. They likely "forgot" that they won, or misplaced the results and dismissed the case.  More likely there was one attorney involved in the local and another in the arbitration and the right hand did not know what the left hand was doing.

 

I would lay low until the time period for confirmation of the reward has passed. They cannot sue you again becuase the issue has already be decided, Res Justia. If they bring it up after the confirmation period is over, tell them pound sand.

[phonymoney]

Thanks for your response, lheart. How long is the period for confirming the arbitration reward in a court of law? Thanks.

[nobk4me]

They can confirm an arb award in court within one year.  You, however, only have three months in which to file a motion against confirmation of the award.

 

ETA:  actually, what they did makes sense.  They went thru arbitration, got an award, so dismissing the case is the proper action.

[Credator]

Dismissing before motioning the court to confirm the award does not make sense to me. Since the court already has jurisdiction and court costs have been paid I would expect them to wait 90+ days after the award was noticed (so that no motion to vacate could be filed) and then I would expect them to file their likely to be granted motion to confirm arbitration award.

 

An award without confirmation is not worth the paper it is written on IMHO.

 

May a year pass before they decide to take further action.

[nobk4me]

Here's the thing:  the arb award confirmation might be in a different court than the one in which the creditor filed the lawsuit.

 

The OP is from Ohio.  If the amount in question is under $15K, the case was probably filed in a municipal court.  Confirming an arb award has to be done in a court of common pleas.

[Credator]

Here's the thing:  the arb award confirmation might be in a different court than the one in which the creditor filed the lawsuit.

 

The OP is from Ohio.  If the amount in question is under $15K, the case was probably filed in a municipal court.  Confirming an arb award has to be done in a court of common pleas.

I suppose that makes sense if transferring the case to the appropriate court was not available or more efficient than filing a new action.

 

What seems odd is that they appear to have waited about 7 months instead of just 90+ days.

[phonymoney]

I suppose that makes sense if transferring the case to the appropriate court was not available or more efficient than filing a new action.

 

What seems odd is that they appear to have waited about 7 months instead of just 90+ days.

I'm with you on that one, Credator. If they weren't genuine about totally dismissing the case without confirming the award, they wouldn't have motioned the court to lift the stay on Arb and request dismissal of the case at their cost, as they indicated in their motion. Instead, they would've kept the case open till they decided what they really wanted to do. I mean, shouldn't they have motioned the court for a hearing on the award confirmation instead, and then requested for dismissal? That would seem like the logical thing to do.