Mansfield v. Vanderbilt Mortgage & Finance, Inc.

29 F. Supp. 3d 645, 2014 WL 2712327, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 81547
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. North Carolina
DecidedJune 16, 2014
DocketNo. 7:13-CV-257-FL
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 29 F. Supp. 3d 645 (Mansfield v. Vanderbilt Mortgage & Finance, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. North Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mansfield v. Vanderbilt Mortgage & Finance, Inc., 29 F. Supp. 3d 645, 2014 WL 2712327, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 81547 (E.D.N.C. 2014).

Opinion

ORDER

LOUISE W. FLANAGAN, District Judge.

This matter comes before the court on defendant Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance, Inc.’s (‘Vanderbilt”) motion to stay litigation pending arbitration and to compel arbitration (DE 4), and plaintiffs motion to remand (DE 12). Both motions are fully briefed and issues raised are ripe for ruling. For the reasons stated below, the court DENIES plaintiffs motion to remand and GRANTS defendant Vanderbilt’s motion to stay and compel arbitration.

BACKGROUND

For purposes of deciding the instant motions, the following facts do not appear to be disputed. On April 16, 2011, plaintiffs home was hit by a tornado, destroying it. On October 14, 2011, in connection with the purchase of a new mobile home, plaintiff — a resident of Bladen County, North Carolina- — executed a Manufactured Home and Retail Installment Contract (“the contract”) with defendant Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance, Inc. (‘Vanderbilt”) — a Tennessee Corporation with its principal [649]*649place of business in Tennessee — as the lender. Plaintiff also executed a deed of trust naming defendant Vanderbilt as the beneficiary. The deed of trust took a security interest in the mobile home and on certain land owned by plaintiff. The contract included an arbitration agreement. This arbitration agreement stated that

Buyer and Seller (sometimes called the “Parties”) agree to mandatory, binding arbitration (“Arbitration”) of all disputes, claims, controversies, grievances, causes of action, including, but not limited to, common law claims, contract and warranty claims, tort claims, statutory claims, and, where applicable, administrative law claims, and any other matter in question (“Claims”) arising from or relating to this Contract, any products/goods, servicés, insurance, or real property (including improvements to the real' property) sold or financed under this Contract, any events leading up to this Contract, the collection and servicing of this Contract, and the interpretation, scope, validity or enforceability of this Contract (with the exception of this agreement to arbitrate, the “Arbitration Agreement”). The interpretation, scope, validity or enforceability of this Arbitration Agreement or any clause or provision herein and the arbitrability of any issue shall be determined by a court of competent jurisdiction.

Compl. Ex. C, at 8. Certain actions, however, were exempted from arbitration:

Notwithstanding any other provision of this Arbitration Agreement, Buyer agrees that Seller may use judicial process (filing a lawsuit): (a) to enforce the security interest granted in this Contract or any related mortgage or deed of trust, and (b) to seek preliminary relief, such as a restraining order or injunctive relief, in order to preserve the existence; location, condition, or productive use of the Manufactured Home or other Collateral. Buyer and Seller also agree that, this Arbitration Agreement does not apply to any Claim where the amount in controversy is less than the jurisdictional limit of the small claims court in the jurisdiction where Buyer resides, provided, however that the Parties agree that any such small claims Claim may only be brought on an dndividual basis and not as a class action.

Id. at 9. The contract also contained an explicit trial waiver, stating that “Buyer and Seller hereby expressly and irrevocably waive any right to a trial by judge or jury of any Claims covered by this Arbitration Agreement.” Id.

At the loan closing where the documents were executed, plaintiff went as instructed to the law offices of Cooper, Davis, and Cooper. She was not given the loan docu-' ments in advance to review, and recalls that she was at the office for under thirty minutes. The woman conducting the closing did not explain any of the language of the contract to her, but merely flipped each page and pointed to where plaintiff should sign. No one mentioned the arbitration agreement in the contract, or mentioned arbitration, and the arbitration agreement was largely written in the same type face as the rest of the contract. Plaintiff was not able to negotiate any portion of the contract.

Plaintiff began making monthly payments on the loan in December 2011, but eventually defaulted on the loan. Defendant Vanderbilt executed an Appointment and Substitution of Trustee, and recorded this document on May 28, 2018. Defendant Vanderbilt appointed defendants Philip A. Glass, Lenny Cicero, and Matthew Hoptry (collectively, .“the trustee defendants”) — all residents of North Carolina— to serve as trustees on plaintiffs deed of trust. Defendant Philip A. Glass filed and served a notice of foreclosure hearing with [650]*650the Bladen County Clerk of Court. The Assistant Clerk of Superior Court in Bla-den County signed an order of foreclosure, which plaintiff is appealing.

Because the jurisdiction of the clerk and court in such foreclosure proceedings is limited to specific findings, plaintiff brought the instant action in Bladen County Superior Court, asserting claims against defendant Vanderbilt for (1) making an unlawful rate spread home loan in violation of N.C. Gen.Stat. § 24-1.1F; (2) breach of the Secure and Fair Enforcement Mortgage Licensing Act (“SAFE Act”), N.C. Gen.Stat. § 53-244.010 et seq.; (3) violation of the North Carolina Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act (“UDPTA”) N.C. Gen.Stat. § 75-1.1 et seq.; and (4) breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing. Plaintiff seeks monetary damages on these claims. Plaintiff also asserted claims against all defendants for declaratory relief that she is entitled to reformation of the loan terms and for injunctive relief prohibiting defendants from proceeding to sell her property, from transferring any interest in plaintiffs security agreement or deed of trust, and from taking any other action adverse to plaintiffs interest in her property.

Defendant Vanderbilt removed this action to this court on December 2, 2013, asserting this court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)(3). Defendant Vanderbilt then filed a motion to stay this litigation and compel arbitration (DE 4). Plaintiff opposed this motion, and filed her own motion to remand the action to state court (DE 12), asserting that this court does not have subject matter jurisdiction over the instant action. Defendant Vanderbilt opposed plaintiffs motion.

COURT’S DISCUSSION

A. Motion to Remand

The court is obligated to first consider plaintiffs motion to remand. See Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Env’t, 523 U.S. 83, 94-95, 118 S.Ct. 1003, 140 L.Ed.2d 210 (1998) (“The requirement that jurisdiction be established as .a threshold matter springs from, the nature and limits of the judicial power of the United States and is inflexible and without exception.” (internal quotations and alterations omitted)).

1. Standard of Review

Federal district courts are courts of limited jurisdiction. “Typically, an action initiated in a state court can be removed to federal court only if it might have been brought in federal court originally.” Sonoco Prods. Co. v. Physicians Health Plan, Inc., 338 F.3d 366

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29 F. Supp. 3d 645, 2014 WL 2712327, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 81547, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mansfield-v-vanderbilt-mortgage-finance-inc-nced-2014.