All State Home Mortgage, Inc. v. Daniel

977 A.2d 438, 187 Md. App. 166, 2009 Md. App. LEXIS 73
CourtCourt of Special Appeals of Maryland
DecidedJune 9, 2009
Docket579, Sept. Term, 2008
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 977 A.2d 438 (All State Home Mortgage, Inc. v. Daniel) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Special Appeals of Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
All State Home Mortgage, Inc. v. Daniel, 977 A.2d 438, 187 Md. App. 166, 2009 Md. App. LEXIS 73 (Md. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

GRAEFF, Judge.

This appeal arises from a dispute between appellees, Francis A. Daniel and Eulene P. Daniel (“the Daniels”), and appellant, All State Home Mortgage, Inc. (“All State”), regarding refinancing of the Daniels’ house. Specifically, it involves All State’s attempt, after it failed to disburse the loan and the Daniels filed suit, to compel arbitration based on an arbitration agreement that the Daniels signed. The circuit *170 court initially granted All State’s motion to compel arbitration. On a motion for reconsideration, however, the court concluded that the arbitration agreement was unenforceable because All State did not sign the agreement. All State appealed from the circuit court’s order and presents one issue for our review, which we rephrased: Where the terms of the agreement expressly state that the agreement to arbitrate is effective and binding when both parties sign it, and where All State failed to sign the agreement, did the circuit court properly conclude that the arbitration agreement was unenforceable? 1

For the reasons set forth below, we shall affirm the judgment of the circuit court.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The Daniels applied for a loan with All State to refinance their home in Rockville, Maryland. In early September 2006, the Daniels’ loan officer informed them that their loan application was approved.

On September 15, 2006, the Daniels and All State “closed” on the loan. 2 The contract provided that All State would loan $649,999 to the Daniels to pay off two existing mortgages, credit card bills, vehicles, and other outstanding debts in exchange for a security interest in the Daniels’ home. The loan amount also included a cash disbursement of approximately $48,000 to the Daniels. The settlement statement indicated that All State would disburse the loan funds on September 20, 2006.

*171 Several days prior to the closing, the Daniels signed an arbitration agreement, 3 which provided as follows:

AGREEMENT FOR THE ARBITRATION OF DISPUTES
Maintaining a good relationship with our loan applicants and borrowers is very important to us.
(“We, our or us”) request the person(s) named below (“you”) to contact us immediately if you have a problem with a loan application or loan transaction with us. Often a telephone call to us will resolve the matter amicably and as quickly as possible. However, if you and we are not able to resolve our differences informally, you and we agree that any dispute, regardless of when it arose, shall be settled, at your option or ours, by arbitration in accordance with this Agreement. Judgment on the arbitrator’s award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction. Except as otherwise expressly provided by applicable law, there is no right of judicial review of any award by the arbitrator.
This agreement is made in consideration of our processing of your inquiry or application for a loan secured by the property identified below (“loan”) and is also made in further consideration of our funding of the loan at the interest rate(s) and terms referenced in the loan documents. This agreement is effective and binding to you and your heirs, successors and assigns and us when both parties sign it. This agreement shall also apply to any dispute with us[,] our corporate parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, agents, employees, officers, directors, successors and assigns. If you have any questions, you should consult your own lawyer before you sign this agreement.
*172 * ❖ *
If either party, you are [sic] we, fail to submit to arbitration following a proper demand to do so, that party shall bear all costs and expenses, including reasonable attorney’s fees, incurred by the other party compelling arbitration. In all other situations, each party, you and we, shall bear its own costs and expenses, including attorney’s fees that party incurs with respect to the arbitration.
BY SIGNING BELOW YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ AND UNDERSTAND THIS AGREEMENT AND THAT YOU AGREE TO ALL OF ITS TERMS. YOU ALSO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE RECEIVED A COPY OF THIS AGREEMENT, /s/ Francis A. Daniel 9-11-06
Borrower Date Borrower Date
/s/ Eulene Daniel 9/11/06
Borrower Date Borrower Date

(First emphasis added).

All State did not sign the arbitration agreement. The arbitration agreement also did not include an All State logo, or any other information identifying All State as the other party to the agreement.

When the funds on the loan did not issue three days after the settlement, as the Daniels had been advised, Mr. Daniel contacted his loan officer. The loan officer acknowledged that there was an issue “with the appraisal of the house,” but he said that everything was “okay,” and that All State would fund the loan. Despite the loan officer’s assurances, All State did not disburse any money pursuant to the loan agreement. On October 7, 2006, All State contacted the Daniels in an attempt to change the terms of the loan, which included reducing the loan amount.

On August 81, 2007, the Daniels filed a complaint in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County against All State and *173 the settlement company. Count I alleged that All State and the settlement company breached the loan agreement when they failed to disburse the loan funds. Count II alleged that All State committed fraud when it failed to fund the loan after representing to the Daniels, before and after execution of the loan agreement, that the loan would be disbursed in accordance with the settlement statement and the August 25, 2006, appraisal of the Daniels’ home.

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Bluebook (online)
977 A.2d 438, 187 Md. App. 166, 2009 Md. App. LEXIS 73, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/all-state-home-mortgage-inc-v-daniel-mdctspecapp-2009.