Seney v. Rent-A-Center, Inc.

909 F. Supp. 2d 444, 2012 WL 6622705, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 179544
CourtDistrict Court, D. Maryland
DecidedDecember 18, 2012
DocketCivil No. JKB-12-2347
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 909 F. Supp. 2d 444 (Seney v. Rent-A-Center, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Seney v. Rent-A-Center, Inc., 909 F. Supp. 2d 444, 2012 WL 6622705, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 179544 (D. Md. 2012).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

JAMES K. BREDAR, District Judge.

This suit was brought by Christine Seney, individually and as parent and next friend of I.S. and N.S., and by Antwan R. Seney against Rent-A-Center, Inc., and Rent-A-Center East, Inc. (collectively, “RAC”), in Maryland state court. (Compl., ECF No. 2.) Defendants removed to this Court (ECF No. 1) and filed a petition to enforce an arbitration agreement and to dismiss the case (ECF No. 7). The matter has been briefed (ECF Nos. 9, 10,14, 16, 17), and no hearing is necessary, Local Rule 105.6 (D. Md. 2011). The petition will be granted.

I. Background

The complaint included the following allegations: The Seneys entered into a contract with RAC, located in Kent County, Maryland, to rent a wooden trundle bed and two mattresses and to have these items delivered to their home in Camden, Delaware. (Compl. ¶ 5.) The items were duly delivered in April 2012 and set up in the bedroom used by I.S., the Seneys’ five-year-old child. (Id. ¶ 6.) Within the first week of use, I.S. began to have itchy bites and a rash, and these symptoms continued to get worse. (Id. ¶ 8.) Ms. Seney called RAC to complain about the bed. (Id. ¶ 10.) RAC removed the mattresses, which were infested with bedbugs, from the house and burned them in a pit on the Seneys’ property; they also delivered two new mattresses, but did not replace the bed frame, which apparently also was infested with bedbugs. (Id. ¶ 11.) I.S. received medical treatment for his diagnosis of bedbug bites (id. ¶ 12), and Ms. Seney called RAC to remove the infested bed from the house (id. ¶ 12). RAC employees then dragged the bed out of the house and burned it on the Seneys’ property. (Id. ¶ 13.) The Seneys paid a pest control company to treat the home for bedbugs, but the bedbugs were still present at the time of the filing of the complaint. (Id. ¶ 14.) RAC refused to pay for treatment of the entire house and for follow-up treatment. (Id.) The Seneys continue to have bedbug bites and have received additional medical treatment. (Id. ¶ 18.)

The Seneys’ one-count complaint asserted breach of express and implied warranties under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (“MMWA”) and claimed damages of $300,000. In response, RAC filed its petition to enforce an arbitration agreement entered, into by the Seneys at the same time they signed the rental agreement. Attached to the petition were various docu[447]*447ments including the rental agreement and the arbitration agreement. (Defs.’ Pet., Ex. A & B.) Also attached was an email from Mr. Seney to the “RAC Board” saying, “I am requesting arbitration and to speak with a representative in this matter.” (Id. Ex. C.) The Seneys’ opposition in response to the petition contains documentation that Ms. Seney mailed a letter to an arbitration service, but acknowledged that she. did not retain a copy and did not know whether she had sent it to the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”), as required under the Arbitration Agreement. (Pis.’ Opp., Ex. A.) Mr. Seney said in an affidavit that he “mailed a letter to RAC at its Texas address and mailed a copy of that letter to the [AAA] at its New York, New York address ... [but] did not retain copies of the letters [he] sent.” (Id. Ex. 2.) In any event, the AAA searched its files and found no request to arbitrate from the Seneys. (Id. Ex. B.)

II. Standards for Decision

Because the Court must refer to the documents attached to the petition, it will apply the standard for summary judgment. “The court shall grant summary judgment if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986) (citing predecessor to current Rule 56(a)). The burden is on the moving party to demonstrate the absence of any genuine dispute of material fact. Adickes v. S.H. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. 144, 157, 90 S.Ct. 1598, 26 L.Ed.2d 142 (1970). The Court is satisfied that no factual dispute exists and that the only questions to be decided are questions of law.

A district court must grant a petition to compel arbitration where a valid arbitration agreement exists and the issues presented in the case fall within the scope of that agreement. Adkins v. Labor Ready, Inc., 303 F.3d 496, 500-01 (4th Cir.2002). The elements involved in the decision whether to compel arbitration are the following:

(1) the existence of a dispute between the parties, (2) a written agreement that includes an arbitration provision which purports to cover the dispute, (3) the relationship of the transaction, which is evidenced by the agreement, to interstate or foreign commerce, and (4) the failure, neglect or refusal of the [other party] to arbitrate the dispute.

Whiteside v. Teltech Corp., 940 F.2d 99, 102 (4th Cir.1991), cited in Adkins, 303 F.3d at 500-01.

Only the second element is in disagreement between the parties. Specifically, although the Seneys do not dispute that they signed an arbitration agreement and that it was incorporated into their rental agreement, they argue the arbitration agreement does not require them to arbitrate their MMWA claim.

III. Analysis

At the outset of the Court’s analysis, it is noted that courts have disagreed whether an MMWA claim must be subjected to binding arbitration based on an arbitration agreement, and it is further noted that the Fourth Circuit has not yet addressed this issue. Thus, a question of first impression is presented to this Court.

A. The Statutes, Regulations, and Agency Comments

The MMWA was enacted in 1975 and is now codified .in Title 15, United States Code, Sections 2301 through 2312. Its stated purposes are set forth in § 2302(a):

[448]*448In order to improve the adequacy of information available to consumers, prevent deception, and improve competition in the marketing of consumer products, any warrantor warranting a consumer product to a consumer by means of a written warranty shall, to the extent required by rules of the Commission, fully and conspicuously disclose in simple and readily understood language the terms and conditions of such warranty.

The statute encourages warrantors to establish informal dispute settlement mechanisms and allows warrantors to require consumers to resort first to such mechanisms before pursuing any legal remedy granted by the MMWA. Section 2310(a). Warrantors are not required to establish an informal dispute settlement mechanism, however; but if they do, and if they incorporate the mechanism into the warranty, then it must meet certain requirements of the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”). 40 Fed. Reg. 60168, 60190-91 (1975).

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Bluebook (online)
909 F. Supp. 2d 444, 2012 WL 6622705, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 179544, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/seney-v-rent-a-center-inc-mdd-2012.