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A North Carolina appellate court rejected a credit card holder's argument that no valid arbitration agreement existed, because the cardholder failed to object to the arbitration proceedings or raise the issue before the trial court. Instead, the cardholder first raised the issue on appeal.
In CACV of Colorado, LLC v. Wells, No. COA08-195, 2008 WL 4211147 (N.C. Ct. App. Sept. 16, 2008), CACV filed a demand for arbitration against Wells for the unpaid balance on her credit card. An arbitration award was granted in favor of CACV.
CACV filed a motion to confirm the arbitration award. Wells objected and filed a motion to vacate the award. The trial court confirmed the award.
On appeal, Wells argued that the trial court erred in confirming the arbitration award because no valid arbitration agreement was submitted to the court. The Court noted that Wells did not raise any contentions about the existence of an arbitration agreement in the court below. The Court stated that a contention not raised in the trial court may not be raised for the first time on appeal. Additionally, Wells failed to object to the arbitration proceedings before they occurred.
Under North Carolina law, a person must object to the sufficiency of an arbitration agreement before the hearing begins. Because Wells failed to properly present the issue regarding the existence of an arbitration award at the appropriate time, the Court affirmed the lower court order confirming the award.
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