Judge: Layne H. Melzer, Case: 2023-01312228, Date: 2023-08-31 Tentative Ruling

Petition Guaranteed Rate, Inc.

Petition to Confirm Arbitration Award

Petitioner Guaranteed Rate, Inc.’s petition to confirm the arbitration award in its favor and against respondent Roberto Jimenez is denied without prejudice on procedural grounds.

The court previously continued the hearing on the petition for Petitioner to amend the petition to allege the date the final award was served and to give notice of the hearing to Respondent – and Petitioner was served with the court’s order.  [ROA ##10, 11.]

Nonetheless, Petitioner has not amended the petition nor served Respondent with notice of the hearing.

The record does not show that any notice of this hearing was served on Respondent after the petition itself was served.

Further, a petition to confirm an arbitration award must be filed within four years from the date of service of a signed copy of the arbitration award upon the petitioner and at least 10 days after service of the award upon the petitioner.  Code Civ. Proc. §§ 1288, 1288.4.

Petitioner filed its Petition on 3/6/23 – this is presumably more than 10 days after the award was served and within four years, since the award is dated 12/12/22, but without a proof of service or allegation of when the final award was served it is not clear from the record that the petition was filed at least 10 days after service.

No petition may be served and filed under this chapter until at least 10 days after service of the signed copy of the award upon the petitioner.

Code Civ. Proc. § 1288.4.

The language of the statute would indicate that the court has no power to act on a prematurely filed petition.  There is little case law on this point. 

Treating the averments of the second count as relating to a common-law submission and award--there is no allegation of notice of the award--a necessary pre-requisite to the commencement of a suit upon it. (Morse on Arb. and Award, 580; Woodbury v. Warthy, 3 Greenl. 85.)

Mahoney v. Spring Valley Waterworks Co. (1877) 52 Cal. 159, 164 overruled in part on other ground by Moran v. Ross (1889) 79 Cal. 159.

Clerk to provide notice.