Cain v. United Credit Corp of Brookhaven (In re Cain)

585 B.R. 127
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. Mississippi
DecidedApril 12, 2018
DocketCASE NO. 17–00046–NPO; ADV. PROC. NO. 17–00060–NPO
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 585 B.R. 127 (Cain v. United Credit Corp of Brookhaven (In re Cain)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cain v. United Credit Corp of Brookhaven (In re Cain), 585 B.R. 127 (Miss. 2018).

Opinion

7. On November 15, 2017, United Credit filed the Answer and Affirmative Defenses to Complaint [Adv. Proc. Dkt. # 1] (Adv. Dkt. 5), denying that it violated the TILA and demanding "a jury trial on all of the claims raised in the Adversary Proceeding Complaint." (Id. )

8. On November 16, 2017, United Credit filed the Motion to Compel Arbitration or Stay Claims. In support of compelling arbitration, United Credit asserts that the Debtor signed both the Loan Agreement and the Arbitration Agreement and thus "specifically agree[d] to be bound by its terms." (Adv. Dkt. 6).

9. On December 12, 2017, the Debtor filed the Debtor's Response. In support of litigation, the Debtor asserts that compelling arbitration would conflict with the principles of the Code. (Adv. Dkt. 10).

10. On December 27, 2017, United Credit filed United Credit's Reply asserting that the Code does not conflict with the FAA. (Adv. Dkt. 12). United Credit stipulated "that it is not seeking attorneys' fees and will pay the arbitration filing fee." (Id. )

11. At the Hearing, the Parties presented to the Court the Loan Agreement and the Arbitration Agreement. (Ex. 1).

12. To provide United Credit an opportunity to respond to new arguments and authorities raised by the Debtor at the Hearing, the Court instructed the Debtor to file a supplemental brief on or before January 26, 2018 and directed United Credit to file its responsive brief within fourteen (14) days after the filing of the Debtor's supplemental brief. The Parties *132filed the briefs accordingly. (Adv. Dkt. 17 & 18).

13. On January 25, 2018, the Debtor filed the Debtor's Supplemental Brief, asserting that "[t]here is an inherent conflict between the [Code's] ability to alter pre-petition contracts and the seeming inability to alter pre-petition arbitration agreements[,]" and that "[t]he core/non-core distinction is not dispositive, and there may be a question of whether or not this particular matter is core or non-core." (Adv. Dkt. 17).

14. On February 9, 2018, United Credit filed United Credit's Supplemental Brief, asserting that the Debtor's claims are non-core and that the FAA does not conflict with the Code. (Adv. Dkt. 18).

Discussion

The Supreme Court of the United States has long acknowledged "a national policy favoring arbitration when the parties contract for that mode of dispute resolution." Preston v. Ferrer , 552 U.S. 346, 349, 128 S.Ct. 978, 169 L.Ed.2d 917 (2008). Indeed, the FAA provides that "[a] written provision in ... a contract evidencing a transaction involving commerce to settle by arbitration a controversy thereafter arising out of such contract ... shall be valid, irrevocable, and enforceable, save upon such grounds as exist at law or in equity for the revocation of any contract." 9 U.S.C. § 2. With this policy in mind, however, "courts must place arbitration agreements on an equal footing with other contracts ... and enforce them according to their terms." AT & T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion , 563 U.S. 333, 339, 131 S.Ct. 1740, 179 L.Ed.2d 742 (2011) ; see Buckeye Check Cashing, Inc. v. Cardegna , 546 U.S. 440, 443, 126 S.Ct. 1204, 163 L.Ed.2d 1038 (2006) ; Volt Info. Scis., Inc. v. Bd. of Trs. of the Leland Stanford Junior Univ. , 489 U.S. 468, 478, 109 S.Ct. 1248, 103 L.Ed.2d 488 (1989).

Thus, the enforcement of an arbitration agreement is a matter of both contract formation and contract interpretation. Kubala v. Supreme Prod. Servs., Inc. , 830 F.3d 199, 201 (5th Cir. 2016). The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has established a two-prong test for courts to follow when ruling on a motion to compel arbitration: (1) "whether the parties entered into any arbitration agreement at all " and (2) "whether this claim is covered by the arbitration agreement." Id. When an "arbitration agreement contains a delegation clause giving the arbitrator the primary power to rule on the arbitrability of a specific claim ... the court's power to decide arbitrability questions [transfers] to the arbitrator." Id. at 201-02. In other words, "a valid delegation clause requires the court to refer a claim to arbitration to allow the arbitrator to decide gateway arbitrability issues." Id. at 202 ; see Rent-A-Ctr., W., Inc. v. Jackson , 561 U.S. 63, 68-69, 130 S.Ct. 2772, 177 L.Ed.2d 403 (2010). When a "party seeking arbitration points to a purported delegation clause," the court limits its analysis to that of contract formation and answers only the question of whether the parties entered into an agreement to arbitrate some set of claims. Kubala

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Bluebook (online)
585 B.R. 127, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cain-v-united-credit-corp-of-brookhaven-in-re-cain-mssb-2018.