Wachovia Customer Sues Wells Fargo Over FundSource Losses http://www.brokeandbroker.com/3595/finra-arbitration-wells-fundsource/

Among the most frustrating aspects of practicing law is when you have a client who has been wronged, terribly wronged, but it's just too late to do anything about it. Whether called statutes of repose, eligibility, or limitation, there are laws and rules that impose limits on how long a potential plaintiff/claimant can wait before filing a claim. In particularly egregious cases where a proposed defendant/respondent has intentionally hidden facts and lied as part of a cover-up, some relief may be available in the form of tolling the count-down by which a complaint must be filed; however, there are limits to even that equitable stoppage. In fairness, there is merit in sun-setting the filing of claims because with the passage of too much time, evidence is destroyed and memories impaired. Similarly, in the financial services sector, you don't want to encourage consumers to game the system by holding on to investments in order to see if they pan out and then, years later, allege that those same investments were unauthorized. In the end, lawsuits should be promptly filed so as to ensure due process for all.

In a vacuum, in a perfect world, talk about due process and fairness and equity is appropriate. In the real world, however, we're not all starting out even-steven. Next time you try to open a bank or brokerage account, see what happens if you attempt to cross-out the mandatory arbitration provision. Next time you open a brokerage account, see if they warn you about all the letters, emails, and telephone calls that will bombard you about opening an account at the affiliated bank -- and also see what happens when you open just a banking account and get flooded with solicitation from the affiliated brokerage firm. See what happens when you fail to timely pay a charge or fee for you bank or brokerage account but note how it's just an "oops" when the bank or broker-dealer fail to timely forward your funds to you or "mistakenly" charge you for services. Yeah, it never quite seems to be one-size-fits-all. You fail to pay a $25 charge and it mushrooms up to $250 with late fees and service charges and dings on your credit history. They fail to pay you and you're forced to wait hours on the phone or online, and good luck trying to get to talk to someone at the branch. As today's BrokeAndBroker.com Blog featured arbitration shows, life on Wall Street ain't always fair, and time doesn't stop just because a large financial services firm isn't playing by the rules. READ http://www.brokeandbroker.com/3595/finra-arbitration-wells-fundsource/