SB 594

This bill creates limits on contracts and leases between consumers who

purchase goods or services and the person who provides those goods or services.

Under the bill, a provision in a contract or lease is void if that provision modifies or

limits otherwise available necessary or useful procedural or substantive rights of a

consumer, borrower, tenant, or employee in a court action or arbitration proceeding

to enforce those rights against a party to the contract or lease.

Examples in the bill of provisions that modify or limit otherwise available

necessary or useful procedural or substantive rights include provisions that require

the consumer, borrower, tenant, or employee to do any of the following:

1. Assert a claim against the person who prepared the contract or lease in a

forum that is not in this state.

2. Forego access to evidence otherwise obtainable under the rules of procedure

of a convenient judicial forum.

3. Forego the right to appeal a decision that is not based on substantial evidence

or that disregards his or her legal rights.

4. Require the commencement of a proceeding sooner than would be required

by the applicable statute or limitations.

5. Forego an award of attorney fees, civil penalties, or punitive damages

otherwise available by law.

6. Waive the right to access to a judicial forum or to a jury trial, unless the

contract or lease includes judicial review of any arbitration agreement.

The bill specifies that these provisions do not apply to collective bargaining

agreements or to certain contracts of employment for compensation in excess of

$100,000 per year. The bill also permits a party to a contract or lease to seek judicial

review of the enforceability of one of these provisions as a preliminary matter in a

court action or arbitration proceeding in which such a provision is at issue.