Arbitration collections

The arbitration process does not involve collections. Once the decision is made and handed down to the parties, DMA is no longer involved. That said, if the decision states that one of the parties to the arbitration must pay the other party a sum of money, that party will have a specific time to pay, generally 30 days. Most parties pay the required amount as set forth in the decision within the required timeframe.

Occasionally, however, the party who owes the money does not pay within the required timeframe. In that case, the prevailing party may take the actual decision down to their courthouse and ask for the Judge to sign the decision thereby turning the arbitration decision into a legal judgement. The judgement assumes all the powers of a judgement just as if the dispute had been through a court trial. The prevailing party then usually has all the choices for collection that any party to a typical lawsuit has such as wage garnishing, tapping the till, writ of attachment, and the like. The DMA arbitration process is set up specifically to allow the parties to be able to represent themselves without an attorney. If a prevailing party does not pay pursuant to the award, consult your attorney to see what your options are.

Sometimes, a party to an arbitration may find that the other party (that owes them money) is in disputes with several other parties as well. If they had a DMA expedited arbitration clause in their contract, they can file for OS Arbitration, have the hearing, and get their decision long before the other disputed parties can litigate their disputes, thereby putting the DMA customer at the head of the collections line against that dispute entangled party. Consult your attorney.

Everyone’s first question… WHAT WILL IT COST? 

The price of filing and managing an arbitration case varies across the country. Perhaps the best-known Arbitration company – the AAA American Arbitration Association – has on their website the following costs: for Construction Claims up to $75,000, an Administrative Fees of $1,550 based on an ‘Initial Filing Fee’ of $750 along with a ‘Final Fee’ of $800 (due before the first hearing is scheduled). So, at the AAA it costs $1,550 to schedule a hearing where the claim is less than $75K, and then the other party must also pay a second Administrative Fee $1,550 if they file a counterclaim, bringing the Administration Costs to $3,100. The AAA also charges an additional fee to rent the room that the arbitration will be held in. In addition to those charges, you must pay for the arbitrator. Rates charged by arbitrators typically range between $250-$750 per hour (per arbitrator).

At the present time, when both parties are cooperative, DMA is offering the Arbitration Administration Fee FREE OF CHARGE and the arbitrator charged at the rate of $350 per hour, subject to Arbitrator availability. Case manager is billed at $75 per hour. Most cases are resolved in a day or less. Most hearings are held directly at the jobsite, so there is no room rental fee in most cases. Fair, reasonable and rapid solutions to construction related disputes... reasonable in process, reasonable in decision, reasonable in costs.