For your benefit and ours, we have enhanced the Arbitration Agreement in the Membership and Account Agreement governing your account, effective April 1, 2023. These enhancements were necessary to specify which rules will be used for arbitration, and to provide you an opportunity to opt-out of the Arbitration Agreement should you so choose. You have 45 days from receipt of this notice to exercise your right to opt-out of the Arbitration Agreement, and you may do so by calling (800)239-6033 or writing us as described in the excerpt below. If you do not elect to opt out, no action is necessary on your part. Your continued use of any Credit Union account or service, new or existing, after the effective date shall constitute your acceptance and agreement to the revised terms.
"38. ARBITRATION - Except as expressly provided below or otherwise prohibited by law, either you or we may elect, without the other’s consent, to require that any dispute between us concerning or related to, directly or indirectly, your account(s), any service related to your account(s), and/or any service provided by the Credit Union whatsoever, including but not limited to loan account(s), any solicitation, change or cost, collection of amounts due, recovery of collateral, statements, representations, be resolved by binding arbitration. You further agree that any such arbitration shall take place in Colbert County, Alabama. Judgment upon any award rendered by the arbitrator may be entered by any court having jurisdiction thereof. This agreement to arbitrate shall include any claim involving, but not limited to, our officers, directors, employees, agents, representatives, contractors, subcontracts, parent, subsidiaries, affiliates, successor, and assigns. No provision of this Agreement, nor the exercise of any right under this Agreement, shall waive the arbitration requirement or limit our right to: (1) obtain provisional or ancillary remedies, such as injunctive relief, writ of attachment, or protective order
from a court having jurisdiction before, during, or after the pendency of any arbitration; (2) exercise self-help remedies, such as set-off; (3) evict, foreclose against or sell any real or personal property collateral by the exercise of a power of sale under a mortgage or other security agreement or instrument, a deed of trust, or applicable law; (4) exercise any other rights under this agreement upon the breach of any term or condition herein; or, (5) proceed with collection of an account through all other legal methods, including, but not limited to, proceeding in court to obtain judgment. As a matter of example, if we elect to pursue a judgment utilizing the court system and you file a counterclaim, any such counterclaim will be controlled by this agreement to arbitrate.
The arbitration must be filed with one of the following neutral arbitration forums: American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) or JAMS. For AAA, the arbitration will be conducted in accordance with the AAA Consumer Due Process Protocol in concert with the AAA Consumer Arbitration Rules. For JAMS, the arbitration will be conducted in accordance with the JAMS Comprehensive Arbitration Rules & Procedures. If there is a conflict between a particular provision of the AAA or JAMS Rules and this arbitration provision and/or this agreement, this arbitration provision and this agreement will control. If JAMS or the AAA is unable or unwilling to handle the claim for any reason, then the matter shall be arbitrated by a neutral arbitrator selected by agreement of the parties (or, if the parties cannot agree, selected by a court in accordance with the FAA). The neutral arbitrator selected by the parties or the court shall apply the Federal Rules of Evidence and the Federal Rules of Procedure concerning discovery, except that the below class action waiver is specifically enforceable notwithstanding any Federal Rule of Procedure to the contrary.
The party initiating the arbitration shall pay the initial filing fee. If you file the arbitration and an award is rendered in your favor, we will reimburse you for your filing fee. If there is a hearing, we will pay the fees and costs of the arbitration for the first day of that hearing. All other fees and costs will be allocated in accordance with the rules of the arbitration forum. Each party shall bear the expense of their respective attorneys, experts, and witnesses and other expenses, regardless of who prevails.
Any and all arbitration will take place on an individual basis; class arbitrations and class actions are not permitted, regardless of when the claim or cause of action arose or accrued, or when the allegations or facts underlying the claim or cause of action occurred. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT you and we agree that no class action, class-wide arbitration, private attorney general action, or other proceeding where someone acts in a representative capacity, may be pursued in ANY arbitration OR IN ANY court proceeding, REGARDLESS OF when THE CLAIM OR CAUSE OF ACTION AROSE OR ACCRUED, OR WHEN THE ALLEGATIONS OR FACTS UNDERLYING THE CLAIM OR CAUSE OF ACTION OCCURRED.
You may opt-out of this Arbitration Provision by calling us at 1-256-383-9204, or by sending us a written notice which includes your name(s), account number(s), and a statement that you (both or all of you, if more than one) do not wish to be governed by the Arbitration Provision in your Membership and Account Agreement (the “Opt-Out Notice”). To be effective, your written Opt-Out Notice must be: (1) sent to us by first class mail or certified mail, return receipt requested, at: P.O. Box 566, Sheffield, AL 35660, and (2) signed by you (or all of you, if more than one party to any relationship) including the information set forth above. We must receive your telephone call or written notice within forty-five (45) days after either: (i) the date this Arbitration Provision was first delivered or otherwise made available to you, in paper or electronic form, or (ii) the day you open your account, whichever is later. Your decision to opt out will not affect any other provision of your Membership and Account Agreement. If the Arbitration Provision of your Membership and Account Agreement has already been delivered or otherwise made available to you, amendments to your Membership and Account Agreement will not give you a new right to opt out of this Arbitration Provision, unless we amend a substantive clause of the Arbitration Provision. Notwithstanding your right to opt-out of this Arbitration Provision, you reaffirm your above waiver of the right to participate in a class action or other joint action with respect to any claim or cause of action."
You can request a copy of the Membership and Account Agreement in its entirety, which includes the Arbitration Agreement, by visiting a branch location, or calling (800)239-6033 to request a copy by mail.
