Opinion ID: 1791768
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Cynthia Rice.

Text: ¶ 27. Cynthia did not sign the agreement with Terminix. Thus, the Rices claim, she is not bound by the arbitration agreement. [3] The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently addressed this issue in Washington Mutual Finance Group, LLC v. Bailey, 364 F.3d 260 (5th Cir.2004). In Bailey, a plaintiff (Mrs. Phinizee) insisted she could not be compelled to arbitrate her claim because her husband signed the agreement, but she had not. Id. at 266. The court rejected this argument and held: It does not follow ... that under the [Federal Arbitration] Act an obligation to arbitrate attaches only to one who has personally signed the written arbitration provision. [We have made] clear that a nonsignatory party may be bound to an arbitration agreement if so dictated by the ordinary principles of contract and agency. Id. (quoting Thomson-CSF, S.A. v. Am. Arbitration Ass'n, 64 F.3d 773, 776 (2d Cir.1995 1995) (citations & quotations omitted)). ¶ 28. The Bailey court held that Mrs. Phinizee was bound to the arbitration agreement under ordinary principles of contract law, including equitable estoppel. The court stated: In the arbitration context, the doctrine [of estoppel] recognizes that a party may be estopped from asserting that the lack of his signature on a written contract precludes enforcement of the contract's arbitration clause when he has consistently maintained that other provisions of the same contract should be enforced to benefit him. To allow [a plaintiff] to claim the benefit of the contract and simultaneously avoid its burdens would both disregard equity and contravene the purposes underlying enactment of the Arbitration Act. Id. at 268 (quoting Int'l Paper Co. v. Schwabedissen Maschinen & Anlagen GMBH, 206 F.3d 411, 418 (4th Cir.2000) (citations & quotations omitted)). ¶ 29. We adopt the same principles announced by the court in Bailey, and hold that Mrs. Rice is bound by the arbitration clause in the contract signed by Dr. Rice. ¶ 30. The Rices' final argument is that the arbitration agreement is unenforceable against Mrs. Rice because it constitutes an impermissible encumbrance on her homestead. As authority, the Rices cite Miss. Code Ann. § 89-1-29 (1999), which states: A conveyance, mortgage, deed of trust or other encumbrance upon a homestead exempted from execution shall not be valid or binding unless signed by the spouse of the owner if the owner be married and living with the spouse.... The Rices contend that the arbitration agreement amounts to such an encumbrance on the Rices' homestead and, since Mrs. Rice did not sign the contract, the encumbrance is void. ¶ 31. This argument is without merit. The contract between the Rices and Terminix did not affect Mrs. Rice's ownership interest in her homestead as contemplated by the statute. The Rices point to no legal authority supporting this theory, and we find it to be meritless.