02-2649 & 02-2650 Smith, et al., v. Steinkamp, et al.

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“[I]t is not uncommon for borrowers to contract with reference to future events, as in clauses entitling the lender to the benefit of after-acquired collateral, though remember that the defendants do not confine their submission to future loans, contending rather that the duty to arbitrate imposed by the waiver agreement applies to all future legal disputes that Instant Cash or Steinkamp may have with the signatories. All that is certain is that the waiver agreement, read sensibly and as a whole, with careful attention to the relation among the clauses, does not apply to future disputes, including disputes over future loan agreements. But that is enough to defeat the appeals. A cynic might argue that, given the desperation of people who take out payday loans, these plaintiffs would have signed anything, so that relieving them from the duty to arbitrate gives them a windfall based on an oversight by Instant Cash. The defendants do not make this argument, however, perhaps fearing that it would invite a conclusion that payday loans are unconscionable and therefore unenforceable even in states that do not deem them usurious.”

Affirmed.

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Hamilton, J., Posner, J.