Ex Parte Payne

Keisha Payne, the defendant in an action pending in the Lee Circuit Court, petitions for a writ of mandamus directing the circuit court to vacate its order compelling arbitration of Payne's counterclaims against the plaintiff, Jay Pontiac GMC Truck Mitsubishi, Inc. ("Jay Pontiac"). We grant the petition.

I

On March 7, 1997, Payne, a resident of Auburn, Alabama, visited Jay Pontiac at its principal place of business in Columbus, Georgia.1 Payne negotiated with a Jay Pontiac salesman for the purchase of a new 1997 Pontiac Grand Am automobile and for financing for that purchase. Payne and a…