# Oakwood Acceptance Corporation v. Hobbs

> Supreme Court of Alabama · January 12, 2001 · 789 So. 2d 847

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9935825

## Case

- **Full name:** Oakwood Acceptance Corporation v. David Hobbs. Oakwood Acceptance Corporation v. Pearl Sims and Danny Sims.
- **Court:** Supreme Court of Alabama
- **Decided:** January 12, 2001
- **Citations:** 789 So. 2d 847; 2001 WL 29197
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Dissent by Johnstone
- **Judges:** Johnstone, See
- **Cited by:** 4 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9935825

## Opinion text

While I concur in part II.B., I respectfully dissent from part II.A. Both Hobbs and Simses are suing Oakwood Acceptance on the ground that it has been harassing them and threatening collection and repossession while it is a mere stranger to their respective contracts. Oakwood Acceptance claims that arbitrators should decide the issue of Oakwood Acceptance's standing to enforce the arbitration agreements because they provide that "[a]ny challenges to the validity or enforceability of this Agreement shall be determined by the arbitrator(s)." The standing of a party, however, is distinct from the validity or the enforceability of the agreement.
Oakwood Acceptance introduced no evidentiary material whatsoever before the trial court to establish that Oakwood Acceptance was either a party to or an assignee of any contract with either Hobbs or Simses. Under Oakwood Acceptance's interpretation of the quoted sentence, any stranger to an arbitration agreement containing such a sentence — literally, any stranger in the world — would have a right to require that an arbitrator decide whether the stranger to the contract is a party to the contract.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9935825. Public record. Not legal advice.