In Mason v. Midland Funding, plaintiffs Mason and Burnett brought an action against a debt collector and its subsidiaries claiming that they violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act by allegedly filing lawsuits to collect on unpaid debts even though they knew the debts were “uncollectable.”

The defendants filed a motion to dismiss, which was denied by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. The defendants then filed a motion to compel arbitration, seeking to hold Mason and Burnett to arbitration agreements that the defendants claimed Mason and Burnett agreed to when they obtained credit accounts online, which was ultimately denied. The defendants then filed an interlocutory appeal with the Eleventh Circuit.

The crux of the interlocutory appeal turned on whether Mason and Burnett agreed to arbitrate. To read more, click here.