Brown v. Federated Capital Corp., 991 F. Supp. 2d 857

Brown sued Federated in Utah federal court over a debt-collection dispute tied to Brown’s Advanta credit card; the account was assigned to Federated in 2007 after closure for nonpayment.
Federated moved to transfer the case to Utah under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) based on a forum-selection clause in the Advanta Credit Card Agreement.
Plaintiff argues the clause is not binding on her because she did not sign or receive the Credit Card Agreement.
The Court addresses (i) the binding effect of the forum-selection clause, (ii) its scope, and (iii) whether extraordinary public-interest circumstances warrant denial of transfer.
The Court also considers whether the rights to transfer were waived by failure to plead improper venue in the initial responsive pleading.
The Court grants the motion and transfers the case to the District of Utah.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether a contractually valid forum-selection clause exists	Brown did not sign or receive the Credit Card Agreement	Brown’s use of the card bound her to the clause	Forum-selection clause valid and binding
Whether the forum-selection clause applies to this case	Clause does not cover this dispute	Dispute concerns a suit over the account; within clause scope	Clause applies to this case as pertaining to the Credit Card account
Whether extraordinary circumstances exist to deny transfer	Public-interest factors oppose transfer	No extraordinary circumstances; transfer appropriate	No extraordinary circumstances; transfer granted
Whether Federated waived the right to seek transfer by not pleading improper venue	Federated waived (Rule 12(b)(3) issue)	Transfer motion under § 1404(a) is timely and proper	No waiver; transfer motion timely and proper

In re Volkswagen Ag, 371 F.3d 201 (5th Cir.2004) (public-interest factors in § 1404(a) transfer; forum-selection clause enforcement)