Septemba Kinnaird v. CNU of Alabama, LLC, CL-2026-007, 2026 WL 1901773 (Ala. Civ. App. July 2, 2026). The Alabama Court of Civil Appeals (Moore, P.J., and Edwards, Hanson, and Bowden, JJ., concur) vacates the Madison Circuit Court’s judgment and dismisses the appeal.
Kinnaird entered into a consumer credit agreement with CNU. Kinnaird maintains two days after she entered the agreement, she paid the full amount to CNU, which CNU declined. Kinnaird further alleges that, after declining her payment, CNU initiated withdrawals from her account that she had not authorized. *1. Kinnaird’s contract claim was submitted to arbitration pursuant to the terms of the consumer credit agreement.
Kinnaird claims that during arbitration CNU filed a dispositive motion and that she filed a response. The arbitrator granted the dispositive motion, determining Kinnaird breached the contract with CNU by failing to timely repay her loan with interest and deeming her argument frivolous and made in bad faith. *1. Kinnaird filed a motion to vacate the arbitration award, asserting arbitrator misconduct. *2. On November 14, 2025, the arbitrator issued a final award including attorney’s fees. Kinnaird filed a motion to stay enforcement of the arbitration award along with a supplement to her motion to vacate with the final order attached. *2.
The court holds that Kinnaird properly appealed the arbitration award by timely filing both her motion to vacate the arbitration award and her supplement within thirty days. Ala. R. Civ. P. 71B. *4. The court treats the motion to vacate and supplement as a notice of appeal under Ala. R. Civ. P. 71B despite the document not being titled as such. See also Guardian Builders, LLC v. Uselton, 130 So. 3d 179, 181 (Ala. 2013). *4. However, the court holds that the order denying Kinnaird’s motion to vacate was void because the circuit court lacked jurisdiction to rule on the motion when the circuit clerk failed to enter the arbitration award as the final judgment after a notice of appeal was filed pursuant to Ala. R. Civ. P. 71B(f). *6. The court therefore dismisses the appeal with instructions to the circuit court to vacate the void order and comply with Ala. R. Civ. P. 71B. Id.