Title: John A Cardegna, Et Al. v. Buckeye Check Cashing, Inc., Etc.

State: florida

Issuer: Florida Supreme Court

Document:

Supreme Court of Florida 
 
 
____________ 
 
No. SC02-2161 
____________ 
 
JOHN A. CARDEGNA, et al., 
Petitioners, 
 
vs. 
 
BUCKEYE CHECK CASHING, INC., etc., 
Respondent. 
 
[May 11, 2006] 
OPINION ON REMAND 
 
PER CURIAM. 
 
This Court has previously quashed the decision of the Fourth District Court 
of Appeal in Buckeye Check Cashing, Inc. v. Cardegna, 824 So. 2d 228 (Fla. 4th 
DCA 2002).  See Cardegna v. Buckeye Check Cashing, Inc., 894 So. 2d 860 (Fla. 
2005).  Because our decision has now been reversed by the United States Supreme 
Court, we withdraw our prior opinion and now approve the decision of the Fourth 
District.  See Buckeye Check Cashing, Inc. v. Cardegna, 126 S. Ct. 1204 (2006). 
 
In the Fourth District’s decision in Cardegna, the court held that a 
borrower’s claim that a contract was void ab initio under Florida law and public 
policy must be resolved by arbitration where there was no separate claim that the 
 
 
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arbitration provision in the contract itself was unenforceable.  This Court quashed 
and held that the dispute as to the validity of the contract must first be resolved in 
court before the arbitration provision could be enforced.  In turn, the United States 
Supreme Court has reversed this Court’s decision, and, in effect approved the 
holding of the Fourth District. 
 
Accordingly, consistent with and pursuant to the United States Supreme 
Court’s decision, we withdraw our previous opinion and now approve the decision 
of the Fourth District and disapprove of the conflicting opinion of the Fifth District 
in Fastfunding the Company, Inc. v. Betts, 758 So. 2d 1143 (Fla. 5th DCA 2000).  
We remand this cause to the Fourth District for further proceedings consistent 
herewith. 
 
It is so ordered. 
WELLS, ANSTEAD, LEWIS, QUINCE, CANTERO, and BELL, JJ., concur. 
PARIENTE, C.J., recused. 
 
NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE REHEARING MOTION, AND 
IF FILED, DETERMINED. 
 
 
Application for Review of the Decision of the District Court of Appeal - Direct 
Conflict 
 
 
Fourth District - Case No. 4D01-3549 
 
 
(Palm Beach County) 
 
 
 
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E. Clayton Yates, Fort Pierce, Florida, F. Paul Bland, Jr., Washington, D.C., 
Christopher C. Casper of James, Hoyer, Newcomer and Smiljanich, P.A., Tampa, 
Florida, and Richard A. Fisher, Cleveland, Tennessee, 
 
 
for Petitioner 
 
John R. Hart of Carlton Fields, P.A., West Palm Beach, Florida, Amy L. Brown, 
and James P Wehner of Squire, Sanders and Dempsey, LLP, Washington, D.C., 
and Pierre H. Bergeron of Squire, Sanders and Dempsey, LLP, Cincinnati, Ohio, 
 
 
for Respondent 
 
Deborah M. Zuckerman, AARP Foundation, Washington, D.C., and Lynn 
Drysdale, Florida Legal Services, Inc., Jacksonville, Florida on behalf of AARP, 
Consumer Federation of America and National Consumer Law Center; and Daniel 
S. Pearson, Lenore C. Smith, and Scott B. Newman of Holland and Knight, LLP, 
Miami, Florida on behalf of The Check Cashing Store, Inc., 
 
 
for Amici Curiae