Court Opinion

ID: 9677918
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 06:05:34.515149+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:17:00.020722
License: Public Domain

RODRIGUEZ, Justice,
dissenting.
I agree with the majority that the binding arbitration agreement at issue in this case conflicts with the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (Act) and is unenforceable as to the Van Blarcums’ written warranty claims. However, I disagree that it is unenforceable as to their implied warranty claims.
The real issues in this case with regard to implied warranties are (1) whether binding arbitration of implied warranty claims is prohibited under the Act; and (2) whether providing a written warranty changes the result. Ráther than address these issues, the majority reasons that “[bjecause the Agreement compels arbitra*497tion of the Van Blarcums’ written warranty claims in violation of the Act ... the Agreement is invalid and unenforceable in its entirety, both as to the Van Blarcums’ written warranty and implied warranty claims.” The majority also concludes that because Nationwide and Homestar are written warrantors under the Act, they are precluded from including in a written warranty any provision calling for binding arbitration. Because I disagree with the majority’s reasoning and its conclusion regarding arbitration of the implied warranty claims, I respectfully dissent from that portion of the majority’s opinion.
The courts in Alabama have interpreted the Act to supersede the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) with regard to binding arbitration of express written warranties. See Rhode v. E & T Investments, Inc., 6 F.Supp.2d 1322, 1381-32 (M.D.Ala.1998) (buyer not compelled to arbitrate claims, if any, for breach of written or express warranties pursuant to Act); Wilson v. Waverlee Homes, Inc. ., 954 F.Supp. 1530, 1537-40 (M.D.Ala.1997), aff'd, 127 F.3d 40 (11th Cir.1997) (Congress intended to preclude binding arbitration of written or express warranty claims between buyer and seller arising under Act); Southern Energy Homes, Inc. v. Lee, 732 So.2d 994, 999-1000 (Ala.1999) (Act prohibits provisions calling for binding arbitration in written warranty).
Although the Alabama courts have concluded that the Act prohibits binding arbitration of written warranty claims, they have not gone so far as to conclude that the Act precludes binding arbitration of implied warranty claims. In fact, they have held the opposite. In Boyd v. Homes of Legend, Inc., 981 F.Supp. 1423, 1437 (M.D.Ala.1997), remanded on jurisdictional grounds, 188 F.3d 1294 (11th Cir.1999) (instructions given to district court to vacate in part), the court held that the Act did not prohibit binding arbitration of non-written or implied warranty claims. See Boyd, 981 F.Supp. at 1441. In Rhode, another Alabama district court concluded that the Act prohibits arbitration of written or express warranty claims, but does not prohibit arbitration of implied warranty claims. See Rhode, 6 F.Supp.2d at 1332. While Boyd and Rhode are distinguishable from our case in that no written warranties were provided by the seller of the mobile homes, the reasoning in Boyd and the holding in Rhode are supportive of the conclusion that binding arbitration of implied warranty claims is not prohibited by the Act whether or not a written warranty is given.
The Boyd court’s analysis of the Act’s impact on arbitration of implied warranties is well reasoned. I would apply that same analysis and reasoning to the case before this Court. The Boyd court noted that section 2310(d) does not, nor does any other provision of the Act, prohibit binding arbitration of implied warranty claims. Id. at 1437 (citing 15 U.S.C.A. § 2310(d)).1 After examining the Act and related materials, the Boyd court concluded that “it is exclusively in the context of written warranties ... that Congress sought to limit recourse to binding arbitration.” Id. at 1438. “[T]his disparate treatment of written and non-written warranties, with the increased regulatory bite placed on the former, is consistent with Congress’s overall aim in the Act to protect consumers from unfair written warranties.” Id. at 1438 n. 11 (emphasis added). Congress’s intentions regarding implied warranties were far less ambitious than its concerns about unequal bargaining power in connection with written warranties. Id. at 1440. *498The court determined that Congress’s intent regarding implied warranties was “to prevent warrantors from employing sleight of word in their written warranties to limit or eliminate state law implied warranty protections.” Id. at 1439 (emphasis added).2 Rather than revamp or supplement the treatment of implied warranties under state law, Congress chose to maintain the status quo. Id. at 1440.
The Boyd court’s reasoning is effectively summarized in the following excerpts:
This difference in treatment between written and non-written warranties stems from the fact that implied warranties, as the Magnuson-Moss Act recognizes, arise under state law for the most part. These warranties unlike the written warranties that are the primary focus of the Act, therefore are not the product of bargaining between powerful manufacturers and relatively weak consumers. Instead, they derive from the legislative and judicial processes. Because these processes are not directly susceptible to the unequal-bargaining concerns addressed in the Act, Congress’s decision to refrain from providing additional protection for implied warranties in the Act makes sense.
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... [I]t is only with respect to written warranties that Congress sought in the Magnuson-Moss Act to protect consumers from exploitation by more powerful manufacturers and suppliers who desired to impose the requirement that disputes be resolved by binding arbitration. Congress chose not to do so with respect to manufacturers and suppliers subject only to non-written and implied warranties.
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Although Congress did intend to preclude binding arbitration in the context of written warranties under certain circumstances, it stopped short of doing so with respect to implied, non-written, warranties.
Id. at 1440-41 (emphasis in original) (footnote omitted).
Further, in Rhode, the court granted the seller’s motion to compel arbitration, except to the limited extent Rhode’s complaint stated written or express warranty claims. See Rhode, 6 F.Supp.2d at 1332. The court allowed for arbitration of implied warranty claims. See id. It is important to note that the arbitration of implied warranty claims was not made contingent upon whether or not a written warranty was provided. There is no suggestion that had there been a written or express warranty, the Act would preclude arbitration of implied warranty claims. The result in Rhode confirms that the Alabama courts distinguish the Act’s effect on express warranty claims and on implied warranty claims, whether or not written warranties are given.
I would, therefore, conclude that the Act does not preclude binding arbitration of the Van Blarcums’ implied warranty claims. Accordingly, I would hold that the arbitration agreement is invalidated only to the extent that it requires binding arbitration of the written warranty claims; to the extent it requires binding arbitration of other claims, including implied warranty claims and non-warranty claims, I would hold that the provision should be enforced and this Court should compel arbitration under the FAA.
*499Chief Justice SEERDEN not participating.
Dissenting opinion joined by Justice CHAVEZ.

. Section 2310(d)(1) provides that a consumer may bring suit in any court of competent jurisdiction for actions involving implied warranties. See U.S.C.A. § 2310(d)(1) (2000). This section should only be read as a jurisdictional provision, providing non-exclusive avenues for redress of implied warranty claims in state or federal court. See Boyd v. Homes of Legend, Inc., 981 F.Supp. 1423, 1437 (M.D.Ala.1997), remanded on jurisdictional grounds, 188 F.3d 1294 (11th Cir.1999) (instructions given to district court to vacate in part).

. Binding arbitration of implied warranties is not prohibited under the Act, nor do state law implied warranty protections include restrictions on arbitration of implied warranty claims. The courts in Boyd and Rhode allowed binding arbitration of implied warranty claims under the Act, in the absence of a written warranty. If binding arbitration for implied warranty claims is possible when no written warranty is given, agreeing to binding arbitration of those same claims as part of a written warranty in no way additionally limits or eliminates state law implied warranty protections.