Abraham-Copley Square Ltd. Partnership v. Badaoui

2007 Mass. App. Div. 83, 2007 Mass. App. Div. LEXIS 22
CourtMassachusetts District Court, Appellate Division
DecidedJune 6, 2007
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 2007 Mass. App. Div. 83 (Abraham-Copley Square Ltd. Partnership v. Badaoui) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts District Court, Appellate Division primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Abraham-Copley Square Ltd. Partnership v. Badaoui, 2007 Mass. App. Div. 83, 2007 Mass. App. Div. LEXIS 22 (Mass. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

Lyons, J.

The defendant in this matter, Charles M. Badaoui (“Badaoui”), filed this appeal pursuant to Dist./Mun. Cts. R.A.D.A., Rule 8B. Badaoui appeals the trial judge’s denial of his motion to dismiss the complaint brought against him by the plaintiff, Abraham-Copley Square Limited Partnership (“Abraham-Copley”), and the subsequent grant of summary judgment in favor of Abraham-Copley.

On February 23, 2006, Abraham-Copley filed its complaint against Badaoui. Abraham-Copley sought to confirm an arbitrator’s award for money damages that had previously been granted in its favor and against Badaoui. Abraham-Copley is a commercial landlord, and Badaoui was a tenant in Abraham-Copley’s building. Pursuant to the terms of the commercial lease, the parties had submitted to an arbitrator a dispute over damages to the leased premises. The arbitrator found in favor of Abraham-Copley and ordered Badaoui to pay $5,489.81 in damages to Abraham-Copley, along with an additional $400.00 for costs associated with the arbitration. When Badaoui failed to pay the award within the allotted thirty days, Abraham-Copley filed its complaint in order to recover the amount due.

Badaoui then filed a motion to dismiss Abraham-Copley’s complaint pursuant to Mass. R. Civ. P, Rule 12(b) (1) (lack of subject matter jurisdiction), Rule 12(b) (3) (improper venue) and Rule 12(b) (6) (failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted). In reliance upon G.L.c. 251, §17, Badaoui asserted that an action to confirm an arbitration award must be brought in the Superior Court and, therefore, that the Boston Municipal Court was an improper venue for the matter. The trial judge denied Badaoui’s motion to dismiss.

Abraham-Copley then filed a motion for summary judgment. Badaoui did not dispute that the arbitrator’s award had been entered, nor did he assert that the arbitrator had committed any error. His sole argument was that the Boston Municipal Court was an improper venue for an action to confirm an arbitration award. The trial judge allowed Abraham-Copley’s motion for summary judgment and awarded damages in the amount of $13,442 plus interest and costs.1 Badaoui then filed this appeal.

Chapter 251 of the General Laws is the Uniform Arbitration Act for Commercial Disputes (“UAA”). It is a uniform act that has been adopted by the Legislature as [84]*84part of the General Laws. On appeal, Badaoui relies on the language of G.L.c. 251, §17 to support his position that the Boston Municipal Court is not the proper forum to enforce the arbitration award entered in favor of Abraham-Copley.

Section 17 of the statute provides that “[a]n initial application [for an order related to an arbitration agreement] shall be made to the superior court for the county in which the agreement provides the arbitration hearing shall be held, or, if the hearing has been held, in the county in which it was held....” G.L.c. 251, §17. The first clause of section 17 deals with the question of venue when a party petitions the court regarding an issue under an arbitration agreement before an arbitration hearing has taken place. For example, if one party to an arbitration agreement refused to proceed to arbitration, the other party could compel the first party to proceed by applying to the Superior Court for an order to that effect. G.L.c. 251, §2 (a) (“A party aggrieved by the failure or refusal of another to proceed to arbitration under an [arbitration] agreement... may apply to the superior court for an order directing the parties to proceed to arbitration.”); see Smith v. Baley, 1996 Mass. App. Div. 153, 154 (district court lacks authority to act on a motion to compel arbitration where G.L.c. 251, §2 (a) explicitly states that the Superior Court has such authority).

Neither party to this action seeks to compel the other party to proceed to arbitration because the hearing has already taken place, which is the situation contemplated by the second clause of section 17. If the arbitration hearing has already been held, a party who petitions the court for a matter related to the hearing must do so in the “[superior court for] the county” where the hearing took place. G.L.c. 251, §17. This clause of the statute forms the crux of Badaoui’s argument that the Boston Municipal Court is an improper forum for the enforcement of the arbitration award sought by Abraham-Copley.

On the question of jurisdiction, the statute provides that the act of entering into an arbitration agreement in the Commonwealth “confers jurisdiction on the court to enforce the agreement ... and to enter judgment on an award thereunder.” G.L.c. 251, §16. The statute also states that “[t]he term ‘court’ [as used in other sections of the statute] means any court of competent jurisdiction of this state.” Id. The statute provides no other definition for court. In addition, under G.L.c. 251, §11, “[u]pon application of a party [to an arbitration hearing], the court shall confirm an [arbitration] award, unless... grounds are urged for vacating or modifying or correcting the award....”

Thus, when sections 16 and 11 are read in isolation from section 17, these sections confer jurisdiction on the Boston Municipal Court over actions to enforce awards of money damages from arbitration hearings. Neither section 16 nor section 11 makes reference to the Superior Court as having exclusive jurisdiction over such matters. Moreover, it is well established that the Boston Municipal Court has general jurisdiction over civil actions for the award of monetary damages. See G.L.c. 218, §19 (providing that the Boston Municipal Court has jurisdiction over civil actions for money damages).

When sections 11, 16 and 17 of chapter 251 are read in conjunction, however, the result is an anomalous and illogical one. These statutory provisions seem to provide that even though the Boston Municipal Court has jurisdiction over an action to enforce an arbitrator’s award of money damages, it is an improper venue for such an action. One interpretation is that the reference to “any court of competent jurisdiction of this state” in section 16 of chapter 251 is a reference to the Superior Court. Of course, the Legislature could easily have defined “court” in this manner in section 16, but it chose not to do so.

Another possible interpretation is to read the two clauses in section 17 separately. That is, it is entirely plausible that clause 1 of section 17 specifically refer[85]*85enees the Superior Court when setting forth the venue requirements because section 17 is tied to section 2(a), which also references the Superior Court as having jurisdiction over actions to compel arbitration. Thus, when sections 2(a) and 17 of chapter 251 are read in conjunction with each other, they provide that a party who seeks to compel another party to proceed to arbitration under an arbitration agreement must file the application in the Superior Court for the county set forth in the agreement.

.Clause 2 of section 17, on the other hand, which governs venue when “the hearing has been held,” states that any application shall be made “in the county in which [the arbitration hearing] was held.” When read separately from the requirement in Clause 1 of section 17 of filing in the Superior Court, clause 2 of section 17 simply provides for the proper venue of an action related to an arbitration agreement after the arbitration hearing has taken place. Section 16 of chapter 251 would then provide the jurisdictional requirements for such an action.

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Bluebook (online)
2007 Mass. App. Div. 83, 2007 Mass. App. Div. LEXIS 22, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/abraham-copley-square-ltd-partnership-v-badaoui-massdistctapp-2007.