LeJeune v. Paramount Nissan, LLC

102 So. 3d 203, 11 La.App. 3 Cir. 1151, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 882, 2012 WL 2332194
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 20, 2012
DocketNo. CW 11-1151
StatusPublished

This text of 102 So. 3d 203 (LeJeune v. Paramount Nissan, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
LeJeune v. Paramount Nissan, LLC, 102 So. 3d 203, 11 La.App. 3 Cir. 1151, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 882, 2012 WL 2332194 (La. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

KEATY, Judge.

|! Relators, Paramount Nissan, LLC d/b/a Nissan of Lake Charles; Paramount Automotive, LLC; John F. Stelly; and Dean Bernal, seek supervisory writs from a judgment which denied Relators’ declina-tory exception of lack of subject matter jurisdiction, dilatory exception of prematurity, or, alternatively, motion to stay proceedings and peremptory exception of no cause of action.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

The following facts were gleaned from the record. On June 17, 2010, Respondent, Mary Yvette LeJeune, entered Paramount Nissan and/or Paramount Automotive with the intention of purchasing a vehicle. She was shown a 2008 Nissan Infiniti M45-V8. Upon learning that the total sales price for the vehicle, including finance charges, would be $56,452.01, Respondent allegedly expressed to the salesperson that she did not believe she could afford the vehicle. Despite Respondent’s suggestions, Relators encouraged her to complete a credit application. Relators then used this application to run a credit check to determine if Respondent would qualify for a loan. However, it is alleged that Relators fraudulently misrepresented elements of Respondent’s application -without either Respondent’s consent or her knowledge. When Respondent completed the application, she listed her job title as “CEO Operations” and her annual salary as $47,000.00. Before the application was submitted to the financing company, the Relators allegedly changed the application to state that Respondent’s job title was “CEO” and her annual salary was $120,000.00. Based upon the alleged fraudulent information in the application, Respondent was approved for an automobile loan from Capital One Auto Finance. When Relators notified Respondent of her approval, she again expressed her concern regarding her ability to make her monthly payments. Relators reassured Respondent that she would not have been |Papproved for the loan if she could not afford the payments. However, Relators failed to notify Respondent that they had changed vital information on her credit application.

Respondent and Paramount Nissan entered into a sales contract whereby Respondent agreed to purchase the vehicle, agreed to pay the total amount financed for the vehicle in accordance with the financing terms set forth in the contract, and further agreed to submit “[a]ll disputes, claims, or controversies arising from or relating to this Contract or the relationships which result from this Contract, or the validity of this arbitration clause or the entire Contract” to binding arbitration.

On February 15, 2011, Respondent filed suit against Relators alleging fraud, general negligence, detrimental reliance, and Louisiana Unfair Trade Practice Act (LUTPA)1 violations. She currently faces monthly automobile payments of $721.58 which her actual salary, as she originally listed on her credit application, is unable to support. As a result, she claims to have fallen behind on this and other debts, to have suffered damage to her credit history, and to have suffered stress and anxiety.

[206]*206In response, Relators filed a declinatory exception of lack of subject matter jurisdiction and a dilatory exception or prematurity, or, in the alternative, a motion to stay proceedings and peremptory exception of no cause of action. Specifically, Relators asserted that based on the wording of the arbitration provision, Respondent’s claims were improperly and prematurely submitted to the trial court for consideration. For the same reason, Re-lators further argued that the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over Respondent’s claims. Alternatively, Rela-tors requested that the trial court stay the litigation pending Respondent’s exhaustion of the arbitration procedure set forth in the contract. With regard to the | ¡¡exception of no cause of action, Relators asserted that the contract was indisputably by and between Respondent and Paramount Nissan, not Paramount Automotive. As such, Relators argued that Respondent cannot state a viable cause of action against Paramount Automotive upon which relief may be granted.

Respondent opposed Relators’ exceptions insisting that her claims pertain to the alleged fraudulent misrepresentation on her credit application and, therefore, do not “arise out of’ or “relate to” the contract or the relationships formed by the contract and are not subject to arbitration. Respondent further claimed that Paramount Automotive was a proper defendant because she was provided with paperwork that listed both Paramount Nissan and Paramount Automotive as parties to the pending sale.

On July 26, 2011, following a contradictory hearing, the trial court denied Rela-tors’ exceptions and motion to stay in open court. The trial court signed a written order to that effect on August 19, 2011, and Relators timely filed a notice of intention to apply for supervisory writs with this court. Thereafter, we received Rela-tors’ application for supervisory writs and Respondent’s opposition thereto.

By order dated February 17, 2012, this court stayed the trial court proceedings pending further action. The clerk of the Fourteenth Judicial District Court was ordered to forward the complete record of these proceedings to this court by April 2, 2012. In addition, the parties were notified that the matter was going to be set for oral argument, and they were given additional deadlines within which to file any additional briefs for this court’s consideration. After receiving the trial court record, this court set this matter for oral argument on May 30, 2012. No additional briefs were filed.

| SUPERVISORY RELIEF

This court has stated,

The exercise of supervisory jurisdiction by appellate courts is within their plenary power. La. Const, art. 5, § 10. Appellate courts generally will not exercise such jurisdiction unless an error in the trial court’s ruling will cause the petitioner irreparable injury or an ordinary appeal does not afford an adequate remedy.

Borrel’s, Inc. v. City of Marksville, 05-48, p. 1 (La.App. 3 Cir. 6/1/05), 904 So.2d 938, 939.

Relators assert two assignments of error. First, Relators submit that the trial court erroneously concluded that Respondent’s claims were not subject to the arbitration provision contained in the contract, “despite the fact that such claims unequivocally arose out of or are related to the Contract and/or the relationships which resulted from the Contract.” Second, Rela-tors assert that the trial court erroneously determined “that LeJeune met her burden of stating a viable cause of action against Paramount Automotive when the Contract [207]*207plainly lists Paramount Nissan as the Seller of the Vehicle.”

Are Respondent’s Claims Subject to Arbitration?

The failure of a party to arbitrate in accordance with the terms of an agreement may be raised either through a dilatory exception of prematurity demanding dismissal of the suit or by a motion to stay the proceedings pending arbitration. The defense to a petition that plaintiffs are not entitled to judicial relief because of a valid agreement to submit their claims to arbitration may be raised by the dilatory exception pleading prematurity pursuant to La. C.C.P. art. 926(A)(1), which is determined on the basis of the showing made at the in limine trial of the exception, including evidence introduced at the trial thereof.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
102 So. 3d 203, 11 La.App. 3 Cir. 1151, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 882, 2012 WL 2332194, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lejeune-v-paramount-nissan-llc-lactapp-2012.