Green Tree Financial Corp.-alabama and Green Tree Financial Corporation v. Larketta Randolph (531 U.S. 79)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided December 11, 2000 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 531 U.S. 79 · 121 S. Ct. 513
- Decided
- December 11, 2000
- Term
- October Term 2000
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Rehnquist
- Issue area
- Judicial Power
- Disposition
- Affirmed and reversed (or vacated) in part
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
CHIEF Justice Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court. In this case we first address whether an order compelling arbitration and dismissing a party’s underlying claims is a “final decision with respect to an arbitration” within the meaning of § 16(a)(3) of the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U. S. C. § 16(a)(3), and thus is immediately appealable pursuant to that Act. Because we decide that question in the affirmative, we also address the question whether an arbitration agreement that does not mention arbitration costs and fees is unenforceable because it fails to affirmatively protect a party from potentially steep arbitration costs. We conclude that an arbitration agreement’s silence with respect to such matters does not render the agreement unenforceable. I Respondent Larketta Randolph purchased a mobile home from Better Cents Home Builders, Inc., in Opelika, Alabama. She financed this purchase through petitioners Green Tree Financial Corporation and its wholly owned subsidiary, Green Tree Financial Corp.-Alabama. Petitioners’ Manufactured Home Retail Installment Contract and Security Agreement required that Randolph buy Vendor’s Single Interest insurance, which protects the vendor or lienholder against the costs of repossession in the event of default. The agreement also provided that all disputes arising from, or relating to, the contract, whether arising under case law…
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