Opinion ID: 891680
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The Arbitration Provisions Must Be Struck in Their Entirety.

Text: {55} When this Court determines that contract provisions are unenforceable we can either strike the ... provisions in their entirety or reform the provisions into a fair and balanced agreement. Cordova, 2009-NMSC-021, ¶ 39, 146 N.M. 256, 208 P.3d 901; see also Padilla, 2003-NMSC-011, ¶ 15, 133 N.M. 661, 68 P.3d 901 (explaining that where a contract or contract term is unconscionable, a court can refuse to enforce the contract, enforce the remainder of the contract, or limit the application of any unconscionable term (internal quotation marks and citation omitted)). {56} The title loan contract in this case contains numerous provisions that are unenforceable either because they refer to the NAF or because they are unfairly one-sided and substantively unconscionable. Arbitration before the NAF using the NAF Code of Procedure was integral to the parties' agreement to arbitrate, and [t]o appoint a substitute arbitrator would constitute a wholesale revision of the arbitration clause. Carideo, 2009 WL 3485933, at . Additionally, as in Cordova the unconscionable terms are central to the arbitration scheme and cannot be severed without substantially altering the method of dispute resolution contractually agreed on by the parties. See Cordova, 2009-NMSC-021, ¶ 40, 146 N.M. 256, 208 P.3d 901. This Court's duty is confined to interpretation of the contract which the parties made for themselves. Continental Potash, Inc., 115 N.M. at 704, 858 P.2d at 80 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). We will not perform judicial surgery by rewriting a contract that is laced with unenforceable terms that were central to the original mechanism[] for resolving disputes between the parties. Cordova, 2009-NMSC-021, ¶ 40, 146 N.M. 256, 208 P.3d 901. We hold that the arbitration provisions must be struck from the contract in their entirety.