Carroll v. MBNA America Bank

220 P.3d 1080, 148 Idaho 261, 2009 Ida. LEXIS 207
CourtIdaho Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 25, 2009
Docket34765
StatusPublished
Cited by30 cases

This text of 220 P.3d 1080 (Carroll v. MBNA America Bank) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Idaho Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Carroll v. MBNA America Bank, 220 P.3d 1080, 148 Idaho 261, 2009 Ida. LEXIS 207 (Idaho 2009).

Opinion

J. JONES, Justice.

This is an appeal from the district court’s confirmation of, and entry of judgment upon, arbitration awards against Miriam Carroll and David Capps in favor of MBNA America Bank. We affirm.

I.

Factual and Procedural Summary

In December 2004, Capps and Carroll each mailed a letter 1 to MBNA, alleging that there was an error in their most recently received billing statements. Capps disputed a debt of over $21,000 and Carroll disputed a debt of over $24,000. MBNA did not respond to the letters or to subsequent letters wherein Capps and Carroll claimed MBNA had improperly made adverse credit report filings against them and demanded that it follow federal procedures for resolving billing and reporting disputes. Instead, MBNA filed separate arbitration proceedings against Capps and Carroll with the National Arbitration Forum (NAF).

In April 2005, the NAF received a letter from Carroll, urging that the arbitration be dismissed because her agreement with MBNA did not contain an arbitration provision and she did not receive notice of an amendment to the agreement, meaning that the NAF lacked jurisdiction to arbitrate. Capps sent a similar letter to the NAF in July 2005. On August 3, 2005, the NAF issued a decision, acknowledging that it may lack jurisdiction and requesting evidence on the issue of jurisdiction. Subsequently, the arbitrator found that the NAF did have jurisdiction and issued an award against Carroll for $30,241.41. A different arbitrator made the same finding against Capps and issued an award against him for $28,156.49.

On September 30, 2005, Carroll filed a complaint against MBNA in the Idaho Coun *264 ty District Court, alleging violations of the Truth in Lending Act, breach of contract and violation of rights, and seeking injunctive relief to invalidate the arbitration award against her. MBNA filed a collection suit against Capps, who answered, alleging the same claims and seeking the same relief as Carroll. MBNA moved for summary judgment on all claims asserted by Capps and Carroll and the cases were consolidated for hearing. The district court denied MBNA’s motions for summary judgment, finding that MBNA’s answers to requests for admissions concerning the billing dispute letters sent by Capps and Carroll were inconsistent and that it had failed to produce agreements that provided for arbitration between the parties. The court held that these issues created questions of fact precluding summary judgment.

The district court subsequently heard Capps’ and Carroll’s motions for injunctive relief, following an evidentiary hearing on the applicability of the arbitration clauses. On September 14, 2006, the district court issued an opinion on Capps’ and Carroll’s claims for injunctive relief, treating them as motions to vacate the arbitration awards. The court found that Delaware law applied to the agreements, the agreements allowed unilateral modification with implied acceptance, and the agreements had been properly modified to include arbitration clauses. On that basis, the district court confirmed the arbitration awards of $28,156.49 against Capps and $30,241.41 against Carroll.

Capps and Carroll moved for reconsideration, arguing for the first time that MBNA’s claim was fraudulent, the arbitrators did not have jurisdiction to issue the awards, the NAF was biased in favor of MBNA, the arbitrations were unconscionable because of bias on the part of arbitrators, the arbitration agreements were illusory and deceptive, the application of Delaware law was precluded by the Idaho Credit Code (ICC), and the district court should reopen discovery on the issue of MBNA’s standing to collect the debts. The district court denied the motions for reconsideration, finding that Capps and Carroll failed to present any new factual or legal arguments that would warrant overturning the arbitration awards, and that their request to reopen discovery was not timely. Capps and Carroll timely appealed to this Court.

II.

Issues on Appeal

The following issues are presented on appeal: (1) whether the agreements between the parties are controlled by Delaware law; (2) whether the district court’s finding of valid agreements to arbitrate is supported by substantial, competent evidence; and (3) whether MBNA is entitled to attorney fees on appeal.

A.

Standard of Review

Choice-of-law analysis and the determination of the law governing a case are questions of law over which this Court exercises free review. Grover v. Isom, 137 Idaho 770, 772, 53 P.3d 821, 823 (2002). Review of a district court’s decision to vacate or modify an arbitration award uses the same standard as that used by the district court. Moore v. Omnicare, Inc., 141 Idaho 809, 814, 118 P.3d 141, 146 (2005). Review of an arbitration award is limited to determining whether any of the grounds for relief stated in Idaho Code section 7-912 exist. 2 Id. Under the Uniform Arbitration Act (UAA), as adopted in Idaho, *265 a district court may only vacate an arbitrator’s award where:

(1) The award was procured by corruption, fraud or other undue means;
(2) There was evident partiality by an arbitrator appointed as a neutral, or corruption in any of the arbitrators, or misconduct prejudicing the rights of any party;
(3) The arbitrators exceeded their powers;
(4) The arbitrators refused to postpone the hearing upon sufficient cause being shown therefor or refused to hear evidence material to the controversy or otherwise so conducted the hearing, contrary to the provisions of section 7-905, Idaho Code, as to prejudice substantially the rights of a party; or
(5) There was no arbitration agreement and the issue was not adversely determined in proceedings under section 7-902, Idaho Code, and the party did not participate in the arbitration hearing without raising the objection.

I.C. §§ 7 — 912(a)(1)—(5). If the district court makes additional findings of fact in confirming or denying the award, they must be supported by substantial and competent evidence. Moore, 141 Idaho at 815, 118 P.3d at 147. The district court’s findings of fact will not be set aside on appeal unless they are clearly erroneous. MBNA America Bank, N.A. v. Fouché, 146 Idaho 1, 3, 189 P.3d 463, 465 (2008).

B.

Conflict of Laws

In this case, the agreements between MBNA and Capps and Carroll contain choice-of-law clauses that purport to apply Delaware Law. MBNA is also a national bank, governed by the National Banking Act (NBA), meaning several aspects of its operations are subject to federal law.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
220 P.3d 1080, 148 Idaho 261, 2009 Ida. LEXIS 207, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/carroll-v-mbna-america-bank-idaho-2009.