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A federal court in Connecticut tentatively denied a motion to compel arbitration because there was sufficient evidence of identity theft to necessitate a trial on the question of whether the claimant actually signed the underlying contract.
In Boran v. Columbia Credit Services, Inc., No. 3:06CV806(CFD)(TPS), 2006 WL 3388400 (D. Conn. Nov. 21, 2006), MBNA America Bank (MBNA) assigned a credit card account in Boran’s name to Columbia Credit Services (Columbia) for collection.
Attempting to collect, Columbia filed an arbitration claim with the National Arbitration Forum (FORUM). Following a document hearing, during which Boran alleged she was a victim of identity theft, the arbitrator awarded Columbia $10,640.23.
Boran did not challenge the arbitration award, but subsequently sued Columbia, alleging a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and other consumer protection statutes. Columbia filed a motion to compel arbitration of the new claims. In opposing the motion, Boran argued that she was a victim of identity theft and never applied for an MBNA credit card.
Before a trial on arbitrability can be granted, the party challenging the arbitration must present “some evidence” in support of its claims. The Court found there was “a genuine issue of material fact as to the threshold issue of whether [Boran] signed the credit card application giving rise to the arbitration clause at issue.”
As evidence of identity theft, Boran included a warrant for the arrest of her son’s girlfriend for fraudulently obtaining the credit card at issue. The Court concluded this met the “some evidence” test, and denied the motion to compel arbitration with respect to the FDCPA claim pending a trial on the limited issue of whether Boran actually signed the credit card application.
The Court did not disturb the underlying arbitration award. It also noted that the FORUM arbitrator “did not have the benefit” of the arrest warrant that provided the evidence to place arbitrability at issue before issuing the original arbitration award.
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