Arbitration Clause Not Enforceable On Homeowners' Association

In Villa Vicenza Homeowners Ass'n v. Nobel Court Development, LLC (here), the Court of Appeal held that an arbitration clause recorded in CC&Rs was not enforceable in a suit brought by a homeowners' association against a developer. Because the clause was subject to the Federal Arbitration Act, the court was not bound by the holdings in Grafton Partners v. Superior Court (in which we represented the petitioner), which holds that predispute jury waivers are unenforceable except as specifically authorized by the Legislature, or Treo @ Kettner Homeowners Assn. v. Superior Court, which held that a homeowners association was not bound by a judicial reference agreement contained in CC&Rs. Nevertheless, the court held that both federal law and state law refuse to enforce arbitration clauses against non-signatories, and the homeowners association had never agreed to arbitrate a dispute against the developer.

MICRA and Mortality

The malpractice reform statute, MICRA, generally provides for the enforceability of agreements to arbitrate medical malpractice claims, provided that the patient has a thirty-day period to rescind. But what happens if the patient dies allegedly due to the physician's malpractice before the 30-day period expires? In Rodriguez v. Superior Court (here), the court held that the constitutional policy that jury trial waivers be strictly construed, enunciated in Grafton Partners v. Superior Court, trumped the statutory policy in favor of arbitrating medical malpractice claims.

Supreme Court Denies Review in Judicial Reference Case

The Supreme Court has denied review in Treo@Kettner, the judicial reference/jury waiver case discussed here and here previously. So judicial reference agreements contained in CC&Rs are now unenforceable.