Law for Business 12th Edition by James Barnes,Terry Dworkin,Eric Richards

Exercise 4

The Harrises claimed to be victims of a fraudulent home improvement scheme perpetrated by Green Tree Financial Corp. Green Tree recruited home improvement contractors, told the contractors to obtain high-interest second-mortgage contracts on home improvements by targeting relatively unsophisticated, low-to middle-income senior citizens, promising that the work would be performed at an affordable cost and that no payment would be due until the customer was completely satisfied. The form contracts allowed Green Tree to charge exorbitant amounts for collateral protection insurance. They obtained these contracts by using high-pressure sales tactics such as in-home sales and telemarketing. After the Harrises signed the forms, the contractors either did not do the promised work or did it in an unsatisfactory manner. When the Harrises sued, Green Tree sought to enforce an arbitration clause in the contracts. This clause was contained in the secondary mortgage contract which appeared in small print on the back and near the bottom of the one-page form contract. In the clause Green Tree reserved the right to sue but the Harrises did not have that right. Is the clause unconscionable and therefore unenforceable?