Arbitration

In DiCarlo v. MoneyLion, Inc., No. 20-55058, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 4817 (9th Cir. Feb. 19, 2021), the Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ordered a case to arbitration, finding that the arbitration clause did not violate the McGill rule. California's legal requirement that contracts allow public injunctive relief is known as the McGill rule. See McGill v. Citibank, N.A., 2… Read More

In Camarillo v. Balboa Thrift & Loan Ass'n, No. 3:20-cv-00913-BEN-BLM, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22351 (S.D. Cal. Feb. 4, 2021), Judge Benitez ordered an FCRA claim to arbitration. In the present case, Plaintiff never argues that the terms of the RISC were substantively or procedurally unconscionable. Reply at 13:11-12. To the extent she may try to advance such arguments now,… Read More

In Camarillo v. Balboa Thrift & Loan Ass'n, No. 3:20-cv-00913-BEN-BLM, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22351 (S.D. Cal. Feb. 4, 2021), Judge Benitez granted a petition to compel arbitration with respect to an FCRA claim arising out of an automobile RISC. In this case, neither party contends that (1) they lacked the capability to contract, (2) the RISC5 or Arbitration Provision… Read More

In Maldonado v. Fast Auto Loans, No. G058645, 2021 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 138 (Jan. 11, 2021), the Court of Appeal in an unpublished decision found that an automobile title loan lender could not enforce its arbitration clause.  The trial court proceedings were as follows: Relevant to this appeal, paragraph 14(d) stated the parties must arbitrate any claim (with a… Read More

In I.C. v. Zynga Inc., No. 20-cv-01539-YGR, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2227 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 6, 2021), Judge Rogers held that the defendant was entitled to limited discovery from the class representatives to obtain information to bring a proper Petition to Compel Arbitration. Currently pending in each of the captioned cases is defendant Zynga Inc.'s motion to compel arbitration or, in… Read More

In In re StockX Customer Data Sec. Breach Litig., No. 19-12441, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 241178 (E.D. Mich. Dec. 23, 2020), Judge Roberts ordered the class representative’s claims to arbitration, despite the fact that they were minors when they signed the Terms of Service containing the Arbitration Clause. This action arises from a data breach to StockX's system which occurred… Read More

In Nettles v. Midland Funding LLC, No. 19-3327, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 40012 (7th Cir. Dec. 21, 2020), the Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit declined to address arbitration of an FDCPA case because of lack of Art. III jurisdiction to start. Most of the briefing concerns the arbitration issue, but the parties also identify a possible problem with… Read More

In Barbosa v. Midland Credit Mgmt., No. 19-1896, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 37174 (1st Cir. Nov. 25, 2020), the First Circuit Court of Appeal affirmed referring a matter to arbitration. A resident of Massachusetts, Barbosa opened a credit card account with Barclays Bank Delaware ("Barclays") in April 2011. The last payment she made on the account was in November 2012.… Read More

In Marchetti v. Ford of Simi Valley, No. B297026, 2020 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 7639 (Nov. 19, 2020), in an unpublished decision, ordered a case to arbitration under a RISC despite the Customers’ payment of full price and not financing the purchase.  The Court of Appeal found an assent to the arbitration agreement despite no financing taking place. The Marchettis… Read More

In Stover v. Experian Holdings, Inc., No. 19-55204, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 33176 (9th Cir. Oct. 21, 2020), the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court’s arbitration order. Rachel Stover appeals the district court's order compelling arbitration of her claims based on her purchase of the Experian Credit Score subscription service in 2014. Two versions of… Read More

In Mey v. DIRECTV, LLC, No. 18-1534, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 24993 (4th Cir. Aug. 7, 2020), the Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit enforced an arbitration clause in a TCPA class action.  DIRECTTV, who was an affiliate of AT&T, was entitled to enforce the agreement. As an initial matter, we conclude—as the district court appears to have acknowledged… Read More

In Newger v. First Contact, No. 1:20-cv-00039-SNLJ, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 107348 (E.D. Mo. June 18, 2020), the District Court found that an arbitration award in favor of a consumer’s creditor could be used by the debt collector to estop the consumer from bringing new claims. In this case, there is no serious dispute that the arbitral award dispensed of… Read More

In Hill v. CAG2 of Tuscaloosa, LLC, No. 7:19-cv-02044-LSC, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 104442 (N.D. Ala. June 15, 2020), Judge Coogler held that a car dealer was stuck with an adverse arbitration award. The facts were as follows: On January 9, 2019, Plaintiffs filed their Demand for Arbitration against Carlock, alleging violations of the Truth in Lending Act, 15 U.S.C.… Read More

The California Legislature enacted SB 708, effective January 1, 2020, as a further attack on arbitration in California.  SB 708 states, in part, that: In an employment or consumer arbitration that requires, either expressly or through application of state or federal law or the rules of the arbitration provider, that the drafting party pay certain fees and costs during the… Read More

In Ionescu v. Extra Space Storage, No. 19-cv-02226-YGR, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 143992, at *1-2 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 23, 2019), Judge Gonzalez-Rogers ordered a claim to arbitration. The facts were as follows: Plaintiffs Alexandru Ionescu, Lenay Johnson, and Lamar Mosley bring this putative class-action law suit against defendant Extra Space Storage Inc. ("Extra Space") for false advertising in violation of… Read More

In Eiess v. Usaa Fed. Sav. Bank, No. 19-cv-00108-EMC, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 144026, at *2-4 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 23, 2019), Judge Chen ordered a class action plaintiff's individual claim to arbitration, and stayed the claim for public injunctive relief pending the outcome of Plaintiff's individual claim. The facts were as follows: Ms. Eiess is a customer of USAA and… Read More

In Murillo v. A Better Way Wholesale Autos & Westlake Servs., Llc, No. 3:17-CV-1883 (VLB), 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 117043 (D. Conn. July 15, 2019), Judge Bryant confirmed a runaway arbitration award against a car dealer.  The parties agreed to arbitrate their disputes before the American Dispute Resolution Center ("ADR") as a desk arbitration and under the American Arbitration Association… Read More

In Blair v. Rent-A-Center, Inc., No. 17-17221, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 19476 (9th Cir. June 28, 2019), the Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit held that the F.A.A. does not pre-empt the California Supreme Court’s McGill decision.  The Court of Appeals summarized its decision as follows: The panel affirmed the district court's denial of Rent-A-Center's motion to compel arbitration… Read More

In Ngo v. PMGI Financial, et. al., DARRIN NGO, 2018 WL 6618316, at *7–9 (N.D.Cal., 2018), Judge Spero held that a creditor's filing a superior court collection action did not prevent sending the matter to arbitration, but the debtor remained free to assert waiver to the arbitrator. Ngo contends that Defendants waived their right to demand arbitration by filing a… Read More

In Hewitt v. Auto Showcase of Bel Air, 2018 WL 2437240 (Md. App. 2018) (unpublished), the Court of Appeals enforced an arbitration clause in an automobile RISC despite rescission of the RISC due to a failure of financing. Hewitt's . . . argues that, once Auto Showcase repossessed the Vehicle, any consideration supporting the arbitration agreements ceased. Thus, the RISC should… Read More