Citifinancial, Inc. v. Moody

910 So. 2d 553, 2005 Miss. LEXIS 149, 2005 WL 487430
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 3, 2005
Docket2003-IA-02382-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 910 So. 2d 553 (Citifinancial, Inc. v. Moody) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Citifinancial, Inc. v. Moody, 910 So. 2d 553, 2005 Miss. LEXIS 149, 2005 WL 487430 (Mich. 2005).

Opinion

910 So.2d 553 (2005)

CITIFINANCIAL, INC., et al.
v.
Yvonne MOODY, et al.

No. 2003-IA-02382-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

March 3, 2005.

Marcus Douglas Evans, Robert D. Gholson, Daniel D. Wallace, Laurel, John R. Chiles, Richard Carlton Keller, Reid S. Manley, Robert Franklin Springfield, Kermit Laguin Kendrick, Elizabeth Erin Bosquet, attorneys for appellants.

Perry Michael Yancey, Robert Gordon Methvin, Jr., James Michael Terrell, Eugene M. Harlow, Norman Gene Hortman, Jr., Christopher Brian McDaniel, Laurel, attorneys for appellees.

Before SMITH, C.J., EASLEY and CARLSON, JJ.

EASLEY, Justice, for the Court.

¶ 1. This case involves a motion to sever and transfer venue for a lawsuit involving alleged "insurance packing", "loan flipping" and other alleged deceptive business practices. This Court granted in part and *554 denied in part the interlocutory appeal. On appeal, the argument between the parties concerns whether joinder is permissible under M.R.C.P. 20. We find that the Defendants properly preserved their issue for appeal and, thus, the issue of a procedural bar is without merit. In addition, we find that the trial court abused its discretion by joining four diverse Plaintiffs and the Defendants and denying the motion to sever and transfer venue in this action. Plaintiffs failed to satisfy the "same transaction and occurrence" test of M.R.C.P. 20. Accordingly, we reverse the circuit court's order and remand so that each case should be transferred to the appropriate jurisdiction where each Plaintiff could have brought his or her claim without reliance on an improperly joined plaintiff.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 2. On September 18, 2002, sixty-one plaintiffs filed suit against Commercial Credit Corporation, Commercial Credit of Mississippi, Inc., and Citifinancial, Inc., formerly known as Commercial Credit and Commercial Credit of Mississippi Corporation, Citigroup, Inc., and CitiFinancial Credit Company, hereinafter known as Defendants. The Plaintiffs had loans with Defendants. The complaint alleged that the Plaintiffs were charged for credit life, credit disability and credit property insurance by Defendants. Prior to filing a motion to sever and transfer venue, the original sixty-one plaintiffs were reduced to five plaintiffs. The other fifty-six plaintiffs were severed into an arbitration group by agreement of the parties.

¶ 3. On September 26, 2003, Defendants filed a motion for summary judgment on the remaining five plaintiffs' claims. On September 29, 2003, Defendants filed a motion to sever and transfer venue. The Circuit Court of the Second Judicial District of Jones County, the Honorable Billy Joe Landrum, presiding, denied the motion to sever and transfer venue on October 29, 2003. On the same day, Defendants petitioned this Court for interlocutory appeal. On November 6, 2003, this Court granted in part and denied in part an interlocutory order to stay the proceedings pending a review of the circuit court's decision to deny Defendants' motion to sever and transfer venue. See M.R.A.P. 5.

FACTS

¶ 4. On September 18, 2002, sixty-one plaintiffs filed suit in the Second Judicial District of the Circuit Court of Jones County, Mississippi. The complaint alleged numerous allegations. In specific, the complaint alleged that "[c]ontrary to law, Defendants required credit life insurance, credit disability, personal property insurance and/or other insurance in connection with their loans to Plaintiffs." In addition, the complaint stated that "[t]hese insurance products were represented by Defendants as a necessary part of the loan package, with all or some of these insurance products misrepresented by Defendants as a necessary prerequisite for the extension of the credit and receipt of the loan." The Plaintiffs also alleged "insurance packing" on the part of the Defendants "by increasing Plaintiffs' debt by `padding' or `packing' the amount financed through the sale of insurance products." The Plaintiffs claimed that the Defendants engaged in "loan flipping" and that the "Defendants would solicit existing customers to refinance their existing loans at a time when it was financially beneficial to Defendants and financially detrimental to customers." The Plaintiffs also claimed that when their loan was flipped it would result in the payment of "excessive and unnecessary loan fees and higher interest charges on the new loan." The Plaintiffs alleged that due to the common practices of packing credit insurance into personal *555 loans and refinancing personal loans, the Defendants breached a fiduciary duty, breached the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealings, engaged in fraudulent and negligent conduct in carrying out the loan transactions and conspired to do the wrongful acts.

¶ 5. Of the original sixty-one plaintiffs, only four were residents of Jones County, Mississippi, those being Yvonne Moody, Archie Hathaway, Mike Brady and Rhonda Brady. These four original plaintiffs are no longer party to this suit because they were included in the fifty-six plaintiffs that were severed and agreed to arbitration. Of the five remaining plaintiffs in the lawsuit, L.J. Lockett (Lockett), Esau Singleton (Esau), Wanda Singleton (Wanda), Tina LeBlanc (LeBlanc) and Debra Hudson (Hudson), none are residents of Jones County, Mississippi.[1] However, plaintiff Lockett did obtain a loan in Jones County, Mississippi. The Defendants are not domestic corporations and are not domiciled in Jones County, Mississippi.

¶ 6. Between the five remaining plaintiffs, eight loan transactions occurred in four different branches of Defendants' offices. Lockett took out two loans in 1994 and 1995 at a Commercial Credit branch in Laurel, Mississippi. Esau took out a loan in 1994 at a Commercial Credit branch in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Wanda took out two loans in 1994, one at her home in Leakesville and another at a Commercial Credit branch in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. LeBlanc took out a loan in 1994 at a Commercial Credit branch in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Hudson took out two loans in 1994 at a Commercial Credit branch in Greenwood, Mississippi.

¶ 7. Each loan document contained disclosure language. The loan agreements also provided that each Plaintiff the option to cancel the insurance.

¶ 8. The Circuit Court of Jones County, Second Judicial District denied the Defendants' motion to sever and transfer venue. Following that ruling, the Defendants filed a petition for interlocutory appeal to this Court which was granted in part and denied in part. The interlocutory appeal order stated in part:

Citifinancial seeks interlocutory review of the trial court's decision to deny the defendants' motion for a severance of claims which, Citifinancial alleges, were mis-joined and filed in Jones County. The panel finds that the petition should be granted as to the claims of Esau Singleton, Wanda Singleton, Tina LeBlanc, and Debra Hudson. All trial court proceedings as to the claims of those parties are stayed pending resolution of the interlocutory appeal. The panel further finds that the petition should be denied as to the claims of L.J. Lockett and that the trial court proceedings on his claim should not be stayed.

(emphasis added). Therefore, the claims by Lockett are not part of this appeal as this Court determined that his claims are denied.

DISCUSSION

¶ 9. On interlocutory appeal, the following issues were raised for this Court's review:

I. Whether the Defendants are procedurally barred from raising issues on appeal that were not presented to the trial court.
II.

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910 So. 2d 553, 2005 Miss. LEXIS 149, 2005 WL 487430, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/citifinancial-inc-v-moody-miss-2005.