Failure of Claimant to Obtain Written Confirmation of Notice and Claim Delivery Fatal to Resulting Award

Once the parties agree to a particular set of arbitral rules, claimants must precisely comply with those rules governing service of process in order to obtain confirmation of resulting awards, according to an Indiana appellate court.

In Barbera v. AIS Servs., LLC, No. 45A05-0803-CV-159, 2008 WL 5006454 (Ind. Ct. App. Nov. 26, 2008), AIS filed an arbitration claim against Barbera with the National Arbitration Forum (FORUM), alleging an unpaid credit card debt assigned to AIS by MBNA. Copies of the claim and notices of arbitration were delivered to Barbera’s home address, once by Federal Express and once by U.S. Mail. Barbera did not respond, and the arbitrator entered an award in favor of AIS.

AIS then moved to confirm the award. Barbera responded by arguing that service of the arbitration claim to his home address was improper under FORUM arbitration rules, which require service on a United States resident by U.S. Mail with signed return receipt, private service with signed delivery receipt, other delivery with recipient’s written acknowledgement, or in accord with federal or local civil procedure rules. The trial court confirmed the award, finding that service on Barbera by both U.S. Mail and Federal Express was proper.

The Court reversed the order confirming the award, finding that the FORUM service requirements were not precisely followed by AIS. Specifically, the Court found no evidence in the appellate record that either the U.S. Mail or Federal Express deliveries were accompanied by any written confirmation by Barbera or a representative.

Without evidence of proper service of process as to the claim and notice of arbitration, the Court held the trial court’s confirmation of the resulting award to be clearly erroneous and vacated the award.