Judge Kerry Bensinger, Case Number: 23STCV14426, Date: 2024-05-14 Tentative Ruling

On June 21, 2023, Plaintiff Suzanne A. Lee filed this Song-Beverly action against Defendant American Honda Motor Co., Inc., arising out of the leasing of an allegedly defective 2022 Honda Civic. The lease agreement is signed by the dealership, Ocean Honda of North Hollywood, and Plaintiff. The agreement has an arbitration clause.

On November 28, 2023, Defendants filed a Case Management Statement indicating it would file a motion to compel arbitration.

Under both the Federal Arbitration Act and California law, arbitration agreements are valid, irrevocable, and enforceable, except on such grounds that exist at law or equity for voiding a contract. (Winter v. Window Fashions Professions, Inc. (2008) 166 Cal.App.4th 943, 947.) The party moving to compel arbitration must establish the existence of a written arbitration agreement between the parties. (Code Civ. Proc. § 1281.2.) In ruling on a motion to compel arbitration, the court must first determine whether the parties actually agreed to arbitrate the dispute, and general principles of California contract law help guide the court in making this determination. (Mendez v. Mid-Wilshire Health Care Center (2013) 220 Cal.App.4th 534, 541.)¿

Once petitioners allege that an arbitration agreement exists, the burden shifts to respondents to prove the falsity of the purported agreement, and no evidence or authentication is required to find the arbitration agreement exists. (See Condee v. Longwood Mgt. Corp. (2001) 88 Cal.App.4th 215, 219.) However, if the existence of the agreement is challenged, “petitioner bears the burden of proving [the arbitration agreement's] existence by a preponderance of the evidence.” (Rosenthal v. Great Western Fin. Securities Corp. (1996) 14 Cal.4th 394, 413; see also Espejo v. Southern California Permanente Medical Group (2016) 246 Cal.App.4th 1047, 1058-1060.)¿¿¿

“With respect to the moving party's burden to provide evidence of the¿existence¿of an agreement to arbitrate, it is generally sufficient for that party to present a copy of the contract to the court.” (Condee, supra, 88 Cal.App.4th at p. 218; see also Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.1330 [“A petition to compel arbitration or to stay proceedings pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure sections 1281.2 and 1281.4 must state, in addition to other required allegations, the provisions of the written agreement and the paragraph that provides for arbitration. The provisions must be stated verbatim or a copy must be physically or electronically attached to the petition and incorporated by reference”].) Once such a document is presented to the court, the burden shifts to the party opposing the motion to compel, who may present any challenges to the enforcement of the agreement and evidence in support of those challenges. [Citation]” (Baker v. Italian Maple Holdings, LLC¿(2017) 13 Cal.App.5th 1152, 1160.)¿

Defendant moves to compel Plaintiff’s claims to arbitration. Here, the lease agreement contains an arbitration provision. In part, the arbitration provision provides as follows:

1. Either you or we may choose to have any dispute between us decided in arbitration and not in court or by jury trial.

2. If a dispute is arbitrated, you will give up your right to participate as a class representative or class member on any class claim you may have against us including any right to class arbitration or any consolidation of individual arbitrations.

3. Discovery and rights to appeal in arbitration are generally more limited than in a lawsuit, and other rights that you and we would have in court may not be available in arbitration.

Further, the arbitration provision applies to “any claim or dispute, … between you and us or our parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, employees, officers, agents, representative, predecessors, successors or assigns … (ncluding any such relationship with third parties who do not sign this Lease) ….” (See Zandi Decl., Exh. A, § 26.)

The court finds that Defendant has met its burden of proving the existence of an arbitration agreement that covers Plaintiff’s claims with third parties such as Defendant.¿ Plaintiff did not file an opposition. As such, Plaintiff fails to present any evidence or argument in support of a defense to this motion.

The unopposed Motion to Compel Arbitration is GRANTED.¿ The action is stayed pending completion of binding arbitration.

The court sets a Status Conference re: Arbitration for November 14, 2024, at 9:00 am.

Kerry Bensinger

Judge of the Superior Court