KATRINA CAMPBELL WILLIE BRADFIELD LORRAINE SLIGH WHITE JARRAD COXE PAULETTE SHANNON PHILLIP BROWN FRANCES GADDY TARI HARRIS DAWN HOUSETON RODNEY HICKMAN MELISSA HOLDER STEPHANIE JONES MICHELLE KEELING MARGIE WEAVIL TOMMY WHITE v. TITLEMAX OF VIRGINIA INC TITLEMAX OF SOUTH CAROLINA INC TMX FINANCE OF VIRGINIA INC (2026)

Katrina Campbell, Willie Bradfield, Lorraine Sligh, Jarrad Coxe, Paulette Shannon, Phillip Brown, Frances Gaddy, Tari Harris, Dawn Houseton, Rodney Hickman, Melissa Holder, Stephanie Jones, Michelle Keeling, Margie Weavil, and Tommy White (collectively, “Plaintiffs”), all reside in North Carolina. Independent of one another, Plaintiffs traveled across State lines to enter into car loan agreements with TitleMax of Virginia, Inc., TitleMax of South Carolina, Inc., and TMX Finance of Virginia, Inc. (collectively, “Defendants”). In the loan agreements, the parties consented to arbitration under the respective laws of each State denoted in each Defendant name. During arbitration, the Atlanta, Ga. arbitrator relied upon North Carolina law to resolve the conflict. The arbitrator concluded that the loan agreements violated North Carolina law in favor of Plaintiffs, who then moved in the subsequent trial court to affirm the arbitration awards under the Federal Arbitration Act.

Defendants appeal from the trial court's order denying vacatur and confirming arbitration awards in favor of Plaintiffs. On appeal, Defendants raise two issues: (1) whether “the trial court erred by denying vacatur and confirming awards, which all failed to draw their essence from the Loan Agreements,” and, (2) whether “the trial court further erred by confirming the awards based on reasons not stated in the awards.” Our prior decisions of Frazier v. TitleMax of Virginia, Inc., 931 S.E.2d 498 (N.C. Ct. App. 2026), Jeffries v. TitleMax of South Carolina, Inc., 928 S.E.2d 727 (N.C. Ct. App. 2026) (unpublished table decision), and Hood v. TitleMax of Virginia, 928 S.E.2d 726 (N.C. Ct. App. 2026) (unpublished table decision) substantively addressed these questions upon facts similar to those here. For the reasons set forth in Frazier, we affirm the trial court's arbitration award and entrance of judgment in favor of Plaintiffs.

AFFIRMED.

Report per Rule 30(e).

PER CURIAM.