Court Opinion

ID: 9567084
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 19:48:21.230246+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:54:11.223393
License: Public Domain

HUNTER, Judge,
dissenting.
Because I disagree with the majority’s position that the trial court erred in finding the arbitration agreement to be unconscionable, I respectfully dissent.
The majority opinion does not include numerous and detailed findings of fact made by the trial court, most of which are uncontroverted. Because the findings are necessary for a full understanding of the issues before this Court, I recite them here:
1. Plaintiffs, Fannie Lee Tillman and Shirley Richardson, filed this putative class action lawsuit pursuant to Rule 23 of the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure on June 24, 2002. Plaintiffs seek to represent a class of borrowers who obtained loans from Defendant Commercial Credit Loans, Inc. (now known as and hereinafter referred to as “CitiFinancial Services, Inc.” or “Defendant”) and who were sold single-premium credit insurance by Defendant in connection with their loans.
2. Single-premium credit insurance (“SPCI”) is a type of credit insurance sold by a lender to a borrower in which the borrower is charged the entire insurance premium at the time the underlying loan is originated, with the premium being financed into and over the life of the loan. As a result of the premium charge being *583financed, the loan principal is increased by the amount of the premium charge, and the borrower pays interest on the increased principal, including the insurance premium, for the entire life of the loan. Furthermore, the increase in loan principal leads to a concomitant increase in certain loan costs such as origination fees and points. With the passage of the North Carolina Predatory Lending Law, N.C. Gen. Stat. § 24-1.IE, it has been unlawful to finance the premium costs of single-premium credit insurance since July 1, 2000.
3. Plaintiff Fannie Lee Tillman obtained a loan from Commercial Credit Loans, Inc. (hereafter “Commercial Credit”) on September 22, 1998. Ms. Tillman’s loan included single-premium credit life insurance with a premium costing $1,058.80 and single-premium credit disability insurance with a premium costing $1,005.95. The amount financed in connection with this loan was $18,253.68, with $2,064.75 attributable to single-premium credit insurance. The interest rate on the loan was over 15%. The loan proceeds were used, in part, to pay off another Commercial Credit loan which had been originated eight months earlier, in January 1998. Ms. Tillman was also sold credit insurance, with premiums costing $1,799.95, in connection with the earlier Commercial Credit loan. The interest rate on the earlier loan was over 20%.
4. Plaintiff Fannie Lee Tillman has limited financial resources. She works as a sewer at Wayne Industries in Archdale, North Carolina, and her take-home pay is approximately $258.00 per week after taxes. She has worked at Wayne Industries for roughly 18 years, and the $8.50 hourly rate she currently receives is the most she has earned at that job. Ms. Tillman receives $285.60 per month in pension benefits from her deceased husband’s employer. She receives $1,063.00 per month in Social Security benefits. Ms. Tillman has no other sources of income. Ms. Tillman’s most significant asset is her home in High Point, North Carolina. That home is worth approximately $60,000.00 to $65,.000.00 and is encumbered by a first and second mortgage with balances which are roughly equal to the value of the home. Ms. Tillman is 66 years of age. She completed the seventh grade but then had to begin working full-time to help support her family. Ms. Tillman does not have a retirement plan or any significant savings. The balance in Ms. Tillman’s checking account is typically under $100.00.
5. Plaintiff Shirley Richardson obtained a loan from Commercial Credit on 4 June 1999. The amount financed in that loan was *584$20,935.57, with $4,208.75 attributable to single-premium credit insurance. The interest rate was over 15%. In connection with that loan, Ms. Richardson was charged $1,871.54 for single-premium credit life insurance, $1,109.49 for single-premium credit disability insurance, and $1,227.72 for single-premium credit involuntary unemployment insurance. Ms. Richardson had received two prior loans from Commercial Credit, and both of those loans included single-premium credit insurance. Those prior Commercial Credit loans were originated in October 1997 and April 1998; Ms. Richardson was charged $3,782.96 for credit insurance premiums in connection with those loans. With her June 4, 1999 loan, Ms. Richardson was also charged $499.95 for a “Home Security Plan.” She was not told what that product or service is at the time of closing or at any point thereafter.
6. Plaintiff Shirley Richardson has few economic resources. Ms. Richardson works full-time in the medical records section at Murdock Center in Henderson, North Carolina, where she earns $12.70 per hour. She also works part-time at the Louisburg Group Home as a direct care aide, earning $12.00 per hour during the 10-15 hours per week she works that job. Ms. Richardson, who is 52 years of age, had $2,523.25 in her retirement account as of the date of the hearing of this matter. Ms. Richardson lives from paycheck to paycheck, and after paying her monthly bills often has no money in her bank account. Ms. Richardson’s most significant asset is her home in Henderson, North Carolina, which is encumbered by a first and second mortgage. Ms. Richardson has substantial outstanding credit card debt. '
7. CitiFinancial Services, Inc. is a subprime lender which typically loans money to borrowers, such as Plaintiffs Tillman and Richardson, with impaired credit who oftentimes would not qualify for financing at lending institutions primarily making loans in the prime, or conventional, lending market.
8. Since February 12, 1996, CitiFinancial Services, Inc. has included an arbitration clause in its loan agreements. Prior to that time, Defendant’s loan agreements did not contain an arbitration clause....
9. The Commercial Credit arbitration clause is a standard-form contract of adhesion. The borrower is given no opportunity to negotiate out of the arbitration provision, and CitiFinancial Services, Inc. would not make a loan if the loan agreement did not include the *585arbitration provision. The loan documents, including the arbitration provision at issue, were drafted by Defendant.
10. Since the time CitiFinancial Services, Inc. began including an arbitration clause in its loan agreements, the lender has made more than 68,000 loans in North Carolina. During that time, CitiFinancial Services, Inc. has pursued lawsuits in civil court against more than 3,700 borrowers in North Carolina, including over 2,000 collection actions and more than 1,700 foreclosure actions. Defendant has been able to pursue claims in civil court by virtue of two exceptions within the arbitration clause, which Defendant drafted, for (1) foreclosure actions and (2) matters in which less than $15,000.00 in damages, including costs and fees, are sought. The average amount in dispute in matters in which CitiFinancial Services, Inc. pursued legal action against North Carolina borrowers is under $7,000.00.
11. Since the time CitiFinancial Services, Inc. began including an arbitration provision in its loan agreements, there have been no arbitration proceedings in North Carolina involving CitiFinancial Services, Inc. and any of its borrowers. Since introduction of the arbitration clause, no North Carolina borrower has requested arbitration of any dispute with CitiFinancial Services, Inc., nor has CitiFinancial Services, Inc. demanded arbitration of any dispute involving any North Carolina borrower. The only legal redress sought has been the collection and foreclosure actions pursued in civil court by Defendant against its borrowers.
12. The only persons present at the loan closings involving Plaintiffs Tillman and Richardson were Plaintiffs and a Commercial Credit loan officer. Ms. Tillman and Ms. Richardson were rushed through the loan closings, and the Commercial Credit loan officer indicated where Ms. Tillman and Ms. Richardson were to sign or initial the loan documents. There was no mention of credit insurance or the arbitration clause at the loan closings.
14. Plaintiffs Fannie Lee Tillman and Shirley Richardson entered into contingency fee contracts with the attorneys representing them. The contingency fee contract is typical of such agreements. The contingency fee agreement entered into by Plaintiffs provides that their attorneys will not be entitled to any fee unless there is some monetary recovery obtained on behalf of Plaintiffs, either by way of settlement or verdict. The agreement further pro*586vides that the law firm representing Plaintiffs shall advance the costs and expenses incurred in prosecuting the action.
15. Based upon the 1998 North Carolina Bar Association Economic Survey, the most recent survey published, the average hourly rate for attorneys working on litigation matters such as this is between $150.00-$250.00 per hour.
16.The only realistic means by which persons in the position of Plaintiffs can prosecute their claims is by entering into a contingency fee agreement with lawyers willing to advance the costs and expenses of the litigation and with the law firm assuming the risk that there might be no recovery.
19. To successfully prosecute a complex case, including a class action such as this one, a law firm would likely need the assistance of expert witnesses. The hourly fees of experts in the fields of economics, lending practices, and credit insurance can range from $150.00 to $300.00 per hour, plus expenses. In complex cases, litigation costs and expenses, including deposition costs, travel expenses, and expert witness fees, can easily run into thousands of dollars. The class action mechanism allows persons with relatively small claims to pool their resources and have those litigation expenses and costs shared among all class members. The class action device provides a means by which consumers with modest damages claims can obtain representation by competent counsel with sufficient resources to afford protracted litigation in complex cases.
The trial court also made the following findings, portions of which are disputed by defendants:
13. The compensation rates for American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) arbitrators in North Carolina range from $500.00 to $2,380.00 per day. The average daily rate of AAA arbitrator compensation in North Carolina is $1,225.00.
17. Plaintiffs asserted claims for relief under Chapter 75 of the North Carolina General Statutes, contending that Defendants’ sale of single-premium credit insurance in connection with real estate loans constituted an unfair or deceptive trade practice or act in or affecting commerce. Plaintiffs seek damages based upon the *587amount of premiums charged for those credit insurance products. In most cases, the premium charges for single-premium credit insurance sold by CitiFinancial Services, Inc. were under $5,000.00 per loan. Plaintiff Fannie Lee Tillman was charged $2,064.75 in single-premium credit insurance premiums in connection with her September 22, 1998 loan; Plaintiff Shirley Richardson was charged $4,208.75 for single-premium credit insurance with her June 4, 1999 loan. The relatively modest damages claimed by Plaintiffs make it unlikely that any attorneys would be willing to accept the risks attendant to pursuing claims against one of the nation’s largest lenders, even with the prospect of a treble damages award and statutory attorney’s fees. It would not be feasible to prosecute the claims of the named Plaintiffs and of putative class members on an individual basis.
18. Defendant’s arbitration clause contains features which would deter many consumers from seeking to vindicate their rights. These features include the cost-shifting (“loser pays”) provision with respect to the initial arbitration proceeding to the extent it exceeds eight hours, the cost-shifting provision associated with the de novo appeal from that initial arbitration proceeding, and the prohibition on joinder of claims and class actions. The prohibition on class actions and the cap of $15,000.00 on the value of claims that can be pursued outside of the arbitration process designed by Defendant makes it unlikely that borrowers would be able to retain lawyers willing to pursue litigation against a large commercial entity, such as CitiFinancial Services, Inc.
Based on these findings, the trial court determined the arbitration clause to be unconscionable and denied defendants’ motion to compel arbitration. Defendants appeal.
“Although arbitration is favored in the law, in order to be enforced, the underlying agreement must first be shown to be valid as determined by a common law contract analysis.” Howard v. Oakwood Homes Corp., 134 N.C. App. 116, 118, 516 S.E.2d 879, 881 (1999); see also Routh v. Snap-On Tools Corp., 108 N.C. App. 268, 271, 423 S.E.2d 791, 794 (1992) (stating that “before a dispute can be settled in this manner, there must first exist a valid agreement to arbitrate”). The party seeking arbitration has the burden of showing the parties mutually agreed to arbitrate their disputes. Routh, 108 N.C. App. at 271-72, 423 S.E.2d at 794; King v. Owen, 166 N.C. App. 246, 248, 601 S.E.2d 326, 328 (2004). Arbitration clauses included in contracts of adhesion are disfavored in law. Routh, *588108 N.C. App. at 272, 423 S.E.2d at 794; Blow v. Shaughnessy, 68 N.C. App. 1, 16, 313 S.E.2d 868, 876-77 (1984).
Where a contract is unconscionable, it is not valid and the court should not enforce it. Brenner v. School House, Ltd,., 302 N.C. 207, 213, 274 S.E.2d 206, 210 (1981). “In determining whether a contract is unconscionable, a court must consider all the facts and circumstances of a particular case. If the provisions are then viewed as so one-sided that the contracting party is denied any opportunity for a meaningful choice, the contract should be found unconscionable.” Id. (holding that, as there was no inequality of bargaining power between the parties, the contract was not unconscionable).
In the present case, the trial court concluded the arbitration clause was unconscionable on the grounds that (1) it exposed borrowers to prohibitively high arbitration costs; (2) was excessively one-sided and lacked mutuality; and (3) prohibited class actions. Although any one of these factors, standing alone, might withstand judicial scrutiny, the trial court concluded that “[t]he combination of these factors, taken on the whole, render the Commercial Credit arbitration clause unconscionable.” In separately rejecting each ground as a basis for the trial court’s decision, the majority fails to recognize or address the combined impact of these three factors on the fundamental fairness of the contracts at issue.
With regard to the costs of arbitration, the majority rejects the trial court’s conclusion that the costs of arbitration would be “prohibitive” as unsupported by the evidence. The majority overlooks numerous key and uncontradicted findings by the trial court, however, and misapplies the law to the case at hand.
For example, the majority complains that “[p]laintiffs . . . failed to address or quantify the costs of litigation associated with this lawsuit if they were not successful in the superior court or the costs of an appeal.” However, as recognized by the majority and expressly found by the trial court, plaintiffs entered into a contingency fee contract with their attorneys. The contingency fee contract provides that “no attorney’s fee will be charged Client at any time unless and until a recovery is obtained from Creditor.” The agreement further provides that the law firm representing plaintiffs shall advance the costs and expenses incurred in prosecuting the action. Thus, under the contingency fee contract, if litigation was not successful and plaintiffs recovered nothing, they would owe no attorneys’ fees. Under such a scheme, plaintiffs’ attorneys bear the risk of any unsuccessful litigation.
*589The majority cites Bradford v. Rockwell Semiconductor Systems, Inc., 238 F.3d 549, 556 n.5 (4th Cir. 2001), as authority for the proposition that “an appropriate case-by-case inquiry must focus upon a claimant’s expected or actual arbitration costs and his ability to pay those costs, measured against a baseline of the claimant’s expected costs for litigation and his ability to pay those costs." Id. (emphasis added). The majority fails to recite the extensive findings made by the trial court which were uhchallenged by defendants, detailing plaintiffs’ extremely limited financial resources and their inability to pay the costs associated with arbitration. Indeed, the trial court found that
[t]he only realistic means by which persons in the position of [p]laintiffs can prosecute their claims is by entering into a contingency fee agreement with lawyers willing to advance the costs and expenses of the litigation and with the law firm assuming the risk that there might be no recovery.
In addition, the majority’s selective reference to Bradford omits language immediately following the statement quoted above: “Another factor to consider in the cost-differential analysis is whether the arbitration agreement provides for fee-shifting, including the ability to shift forum fees based upon the inability to pay.” Id.
The arbitration agreement here provides for no fee-shifting based on plaintiffs’ inability to pay — just the opposite. It includes a cost-shifting “loser pays” provision that exposes plaintiffs to potentially substantial arbitration costs. “ [I]t is undisputed that fee splitting can render an arbitration agreement unenforceable where the arbitration fees and costs are so prohibitive as to .effectively deny the employee access to the arbitral forum.” Id. at 554 (citing Green Tree Financial Corp.-Alabama v. Randolph, 531 U.S. 79, 148 L. Ed. 2d 373 (2000)), (“[i]t may well be that the existence of large arbitration costs could preclude a litigant. . . from effectively vindicating her federal statutory rights in the arbitral forum”).
The Court in Bradford ultimately rejected the plaintiff’s claim because he offered “no evidence that he was unable to pay the $4,470.88 that he was billed by the [arbitration], or that the fee-splitting provision deterred him from pursuing his statutory claim or would have deterred others similarly situated.” Id. at 558 (footnote omitted). Unlike Bradford, plaintiffs here presented substantial evidence, and the trial court found, that they were unable to pay the arbitration fees and costs, and that the arbitration clause contained features, such as the cost-shifting provision, that would deter many similarly-situated con*590sumers from seeking to vindicate their rights. Such deterrence is evident from the uncontradicted fact that:
Since the time CitiFinancial Services, Inc. began including an arbitration provision in its loan agreements, there have been no arbitration proceedings in North Carolina involving CitiFinancial Services, Inc. and any of its borrowers. Since introduction of the arbitration clause, no North Carolina borrower has requested arbitration of any dispute with CitiFinancial Services, Inc., nor has CitiFinancial Services, Inc. demanded arbitration of any dispute involving any North Carolina borrower. The only legal redress sought has been the collection and foreclosure actions pursued in civil court by Defendant against its borrowers.
The trial court also found that the “average daily rate of AAA arbitrator compensation in North Carolina is $1,225.00.” The trial court concluded that:
The Commercial Credit arbitration clause, as written, exposes borrowers to prohibitively high arbitration costs. The arbitration clause exposes consumers to arbitrator fees, based upon the AAA average for North Carolina, of $1,225.00 per day after the first eight hours of hearings. For example, a three-day arbitration with an arbitrator charging the average AAA hourly fee in North Carolina could cost a borrower $2,450.00, plus costs and attorneys’ fees. If the arbitrator charged the high end of the range in North Carolina, a borrower could face arbitration fees of $4,760.00 for a three-day arbitration, plus costs and attorneys’ fees.
Plaintiffs also presented substantial evidence of the expected costs of litigation and their ability to pay such costs. The trial court made detailed findings therefrom which supported its conclusions of law. I therefore disagree with the majority’s conclusion that the trial court erred in finding the costs of arbitration to be prohibitive for these plaintiffs.
The majority also finds fault with the trial court’s conclusion regarding lack of mutuality and the one-sided nature of the arbitration clause. After the majority cites and relies upon cases from the United States Courts of Appeal of the Third, Fourth, Seventh, and Eleventh Circuits, and the appellate courts of Illinois, Alabama, Colorado, Delaware, and Texas, the majority chides the trial court for failing to cite to North Carolina precedent. The majority then applies an appellate decision from Maryland to the issue.
*591The majority unfairly characterizes the trial court’s conclusions regarding the one-sidedness of the arbitration clause as “applying a requirement of mutuality to the arbitration agreement that is contrary to North Carolina law.” The trial court, however, never concluded that the contract terms contained in the arbitration agreement had to apply equally to both parties to be enforceable. Rather, the trial court properly concluded that the one-sidedness and lack of mutuality of the arbitration clause was one factor in determining that the contract was unconscionable. As noted supra, where provisions in a contract are “so one-sided that the contracting party is denied any opportunity for a meaningful choice, the contract should be found unconscionable.” Brenner, 302 N.C. at 213, 274 S.E.2d at 210.
Here, the trial court found that “CitiFinancial Services, Inc. is a sub-prime lender which typically loans money to borrowers, such as Plaintiffs Tillman and Richardson, with impaired credit who oftentimes would not qualify for financing at lending institutions primarily making loans in the prime, or conventional, lending market.” The trial court made further findings detailing the inequality of the bargaining power between the parties as follows:
9. The Commercial Credit arbitration clause is a standard-form contract of adhesion. The borrower is given no opportunity to negotiate out of the arbitration provision, and CitiFinancial Services, Inc. would not make a loan if the loan agreement did not include the arbitration provision. The loan documents, including the arbitration provision at issue, were drafted by Defendant.
10. Since the time CitiFinancial Services, Inc. began including an arbitration clause in its loan agreements, the lender has made more than 68,000 loans in North Carolina. During that time, CitiFinancial Services has pursued lawsuits in civil court against more than 3,700 borrowers in North Carolina, including over 2,000 collection actions and more than 1,700 foreclosure actions. Defendant has been able to pursue claims in civil court by virtue of two exceptions within the arbitration clause, which Defendant drafted, for (1) foreclosure actions and (2) matters in which less than $15,000.00 in damages, including costs and fees, are sought. The average amount in dispute in matters in which CitiFinancial Services, Inc. pursued legal action against North Carolina borrowers is under $7,000.00.
11. Since the time CitiFinancial Services, Inc. began including an arbitration provision in its loan agreements, there have been no *592arbitration proceedings in North Carolina involving CitiFinancial Services, Inc. and any of its borrowers. Since introduction of the arbitration clause, no North Carolina borrower has requested arbitration of any dispute with CitiFinancial Services, Inc., nor has CitiFinancial Services, Inc. demanded arbitration of any dispute involving any North Carolina borrower. The only legal redress sought has been the collection and foreclosure actions pursued in civil court by Defendant against its borrowers.
Based in part on these uncontradicted findings, the trial court concluded that the arbitration clause was
one-sided and lacks mutuality, in that it preserves for the lender the right to pursue almost all claims it would choose to pursue in civil court while denying that right to borrowers in most instances. The arbitration clause contains exceptions for foreclosure actions and claims in which the amount sought, including costs and attorneys’ fees, is under $15,000.00. This portion of the clause preserves for the lender the only remedies it would be likely to assert against borrowers — foreclosure and collection actions. A foreclosure action, coupled with or preceding a collection action for any shortfall, is all Defendant would need to enforce its rights under the real estate secured loans against its customers. Defendant has pursued such actions more than 3,700 times against North Carolina borrowers since the arbitration clause has been included in Defendant’s loan agreements.
This conclusion is fully supported by the trial court’s unchallenged findings of fact and should be upheld.
The majority nevertheless asserts that the arbitration clause is perfectly mutual because the exclusions “apply equally” to plaintiffs and defendants. This assertion completely fails to acknowledge that only defendants would have any interest in pursuing most actions under the exclusions. Quite obviously, plaintiffs would never be in a position to bring an “action to effect a foreclosure.” The fact that plaintiffs could not be forced to arbitrate such an action is therefore of no benefit whatsoever to plaintiffs and entirely to the benefit of defendants. Likewise, the exclusion of actions worth less than $15,000.00 is of most benefit to defendants, who have regularly used the exclusion in their collection actions. Plaintiffs meanwhile are faced with the difficulty of finding an attorney willing to pursue a claim where relatively modest damages are at stake. The “mutuality” found by the majority is therefore illusory.
*593Finally, the majority takes issue with the trial court’s conclusion that “[a] prohibition on the right to join claims and participate in class action lawsuits is a factor to be considered in determining whether an arbitration provision is unconscionable.” The majority asserts that, in accepting plaintiffs’ position that the preclusion of class actions deters them from bringing claims against defendants due to the modest damages at stake, the trial court “ignore[d] the fact that the consumer protection statute underlying plaintiffs’ claims provides for the recovery of plaintiffs’ costs and attorney’s fees[.]” The trial court, however, specifically found that “[t]he relatively modest damages claimed by Plaintiffs make it unlikely that any attorneys would be willing to accept the risks attendant to pursuing claims against one of the nation’s largest lenders, even with the prospect of a treble damages award and statutory attorney’s fees.” (Emphasis added.) Thus the trial court specifically considered the possibility of the statutory recoveiy of costs and attorneys’ fees and nevertheless found that the preclusion of class action would make it difficult for plaintiffs to enforce their rights.
The majority cites numerous cases from other jurisdictions in which the courts have upheld arbitration clauses which contained class action waivers. The majority acknowledges that these cases are not binding on this Court. Moreover, in many of the cases cited by the majority, the claimants’ arguments were rejected because they failed to offer any evidence regarding the financial burden arbitration would pose. See, e.g., Livingston v. Associates Finance, Inc., 339 F.3d 553, 557 (7th Cir. 2003) (holding that, because the plaintiffs failed to offer “any specific evidence of arbitration costs that they may face in this litigation, prohibitive or otherwise, and . .. failed to provide any evidence of their inability to pay such costs,” they could not avoid arbitration); Adkins v. Labor Ready, Inc., 303 F.3d 496, 503 (4th Cir. 2002) (concluding that the plaintiff’s failure to offer any evidence regarding the costs of arbitration “renders his further complaint about the inability to bring a class action moot”); Bradford, 238 F.3d at 554; Rains v. Foundation Health Systems, 23 P.3d 1249, 1253 (Colo. Ct. App. 2001) (same); see also Jenkins v. First American Cash Advance of Georgia, 400 F.3d 868, 878 n.8 (11th Cir. 2005) (noting that the plaintiff’s arbitration costs would not be burdensome); Autonation USA Corp. v. Leroy, 105 S. W.3d 190, 200 (Tex. Ct. App. 2003) (footnote omitted) (acknowledging that “[w]hile there may be circumstances in which a prohibition on class treatment may rise to the level of fundamental unfairness, [plaintiff]’s generalizations do not satisfy her burden to demonstrate that the arbitration provision is invalid here”). In contrast to these cases, the present *594plaintiffs offered substantial evidence of their limited financial resources and the prohibitive costs of arbitration.
Other cases cited by the majority never address the issue of un-conscionability. See, e.g., Livingston, 339 F.3d 553; Johnson v. West Suburban Bank, 225 F.3d 366 (3d Cir. 2000). The majority does not acknowledge the many decisions with remarkably similar facts holding that the presence of a class action waiver may render an arbitration agreement unenforceable. See, e.g., Kristian v. Comcast Corp., 2006 U.S. App. LEXIS 9881 (1st Cir. Apr. 20, 2006) (“a class mechanism bar can impermissibly frustrate the prosecution of claims in any forum, arbitral or judicial”); Ting v. AT&T, 319 F.3d 1126, 1150 (9th Cir. 2003) (footnote omitted) (“we affirm the district court’s conclusion that the class-action ban violates California’s unconscionability law”); Luna v. Household Finance Corp. III, 236 F. Supp. 2d 1166, 1179 (W.D. Wash. 2002) (prohibition on class actions rendered arbitration clause unconscionable); Lozada v. Dale Baker Oldsmobile, Inc., 91 F. Supp. 2d 1087, 1105 (W.D. Mich. 2000) (same); Leonard v. Terminix Intern. Co., L.P., 854 So. 2d 529, 539 (Ala. 2002) (“[t]his arbitration agreement is unconscionable because it is a contract of adhesion that restricts the [plaintiffs] to a forum where the expense of pursuing their claim far exceeds the amount in controversy. The arbitration agreement achieves this result by foreclosing the [plaintiffs] from an attempt to seek practical redress through a class action and restricting them to a disproportionately expensive individual arbitration”); Powertel, Inc. v. Bexley, 743 So. 2d 570, 576 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1999); State ex rel. Dunlap v. Berger, 211 W. Va. 549, 567 S.E.2d 265 (W. Va. 2002). The majority’s statement that “[t]he great majority of federal and state jurisdictions who have addressed this issue are directly contrary to the trial court’s findings and conclusions” is therefore unsupported. I would affirm the trial court’s conclusion that the arbitration clause’s prohibition on class actions is one factor supporting the ultimate determination of unconscionability.
Where there is “an absence of meaningful choice on part of one of the parties together with contract terms which are unreasonably favorable to the other” a contract may be found unconscionable. Martin v. Sheffer, 102 N.C. App. 802, 805, 403 S.E.2d 555, 557 (1991). The trial court here found both procedural and substantive unconscionability. The trial court found as undisputed fact that plaintiffs “were rushed through the loan closings[.]” The loan officer did not mention or explain the arbitration clause, but simply indicated where plaintiffs were to sign or initial the loan documents. The arbitration clause at issue here was a standard form contract of adhesion disfavored in law, the *595practical effects of which prevented plaintiffs from effectively vindicating their rights.
In their suit against defendants, plaintiffs are seeking relief from an insurance product so abusive that the General Assembly has now outlawed its sale under North Carolina’s Predatory Lending Law. See N.C. Gen. Stat. § 24-1. IE (2005) (effective 1 July 2000). The record in this case demonstrates that the trial court considered all the relevant facts and circumstances in assessing the enforceability of the arbitration clause at issue. Brenner, 302 N.C. at 213, 274 S.E.2d at 210. The trial court made findings of fact detailing plaintiffs’ limited financial resources, the costs that would be incurred by plaintiffs through arbitration, the effect of the arbitration provision upon plaintiffs’ ability to seek redress for grievances, and the importance of class action lawsuits in cases involving relatively modest damages. Plaintiffs presented substantial evidence to support the trial court’s findings. Based on the evidence and the findings, the trial court concluded that “[t]he combination of these factors, taken on the whole, render the Commercial Credit arbitration clause unconscionable. Because the arbitration provision is unconscionable, it is unenforceable.” The trial court therefore denied defendants’ motion to compel arbitration. The trial court’s decision is supported by the law of North Carolina. See id. (“[i]f the provisions [of a contract] are ... so one-sided that the contracting party is denied any opportunity for a meaningful choice, the contract should be found unconscionable”). As the trial court’s decision is supported by the evidence and the law, I would affirm the decision of the trial court.