Opinion ID: 75874
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Void Because Undated

Text: 31 Lastly, we find no merit in Colburn's argument that the arbitration agreement in the record is void on its face because it is undated. We know of no generally applicable tenet of Alabama contract law that allows a party to avoid contractual obligations simply because the agreement at issue contains no date. Nonetheless, the lack of a date poses a problem to the enforcement of the arbitration agreement. There is only one arbitration agreement in the record, and it clearly requires arbitration only for disputes arising out of or in connection with a single transaction. We have no evidence about when Colburn signed that agreement or whether he signed any other arbitration agreements. Because Colburn cannot be forced to arbitrate disputes he has not agreed to arbitrate, see Chastain, 957 F.2d at 854, and because we do not know which specific deferred payment transactions might be subject to arbitration agreements, we cannot say which of Colburn's claims must be submitted to arbitration. Factual development is needed. 32 Accordingly, we remand this case to the district court. Pursuant to 9 U.S.C. § 4, the district court should proceed summarily to a trial on the issue of when Colburn signed the arbitration agreement in the record and whether he signed any other such agreements relating to transactions giving rise to his claims. Should the district court find that any of Colburn's claims against PayDay and the other defendants arise out of transactions subject to an arbitration agreement, it should grant the motion to compel arbitration as to those claims.