Koch v. Compucredit Corp., No. 07-1948
Plaintiff sued a group of creditors who took over collections of a defunct bank for violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. The defendant creditors moved to compel arbitration under the arbitration clause of the credit agreement, but the trial court denied the motion.
On appeal, the Eighth Circuit explained that questions of arbitrability require a determination that (1) a valid arbitration agreement existed between the parties and (2) the dispute falls within the scope of the arbitration agreement. In her complaint, plaintiff alleged that she had settled her debt with the initial collector and, therefore, nothing could be assigned to the defendant collectors. The Eighth Circuit disagreed, noting that the arbitration clause itself was a remaining interest of the credit agreement. As such, the arbitration clause could be assigned.
