Cain v. Midland Funding, LLC

Contractual promises to arbitrate future disputes—in which parties forfeit their right to a trial in court and by a jury— have proven to be controversial. In this appeal we deal with an arbitration clause that seeks to preserve for a lender the right to sue a credit card debtor in small claims court, but insist on arbitration of all other claims relating to the debtor’s account. Here, the lender’s assignee, while operating as an unlicensed debt collector, obtained a $4,520.54 judgment against the debtor in the District Court of Maryland, sitting in Baltimore City. The assignee now seeks to…