As has been discussed previously, one of the many defenses available to self storage companies facing the potential of class action lawsuits, either by their tenants or their employees, is adding an arbitration provision to their rental contracts and employment agreements, along with a class action waiver. This was one of the initial defensive actions taken by the large self storage REITS following an onslaught of class action litigation over the last few years. It seems that the presence of these dispute resolution provisions (arbitration of disputes with class action waivers) has been an effective method to stem the tide of large litigation against these companies.
However, the enforceability of these arbitration and class action waiver provisions remains under constant attack.
In January 2019 alone, the Supreme Court of the United States addressed two arbitration cases that came before it. At the end of the day, these two decisions may have advanced the value of arbitration provisions in contracts, but certainly have kept open the possibility of further challenges. …