Rohan v. Jaybell CA2/1

Filed 3/21/22 Rohan v. Jaybell CA2/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

DEREK ROHAN et al., B314001

Plaintiffs and Respondents, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. 19STCV45218) v.

JAYBELL, LLC et al.,

Defendants and Appellants.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Patricia D. Nieto, Judge. Reversed. Sylg, Susan C. Yu, Erin M. Lode and Katherine Yang for Defendants and Appellants Jaybell, LLC, Sunnie S. Kim, Duk J. Corporation dba Samwon Construction, and Kyung Wun Aum. Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell, Susan Allison, Mark S. Adams, and Jon A. Weininger for Defendant and Appellant M. Guy Maisnik. Norton & Associates and Timothy L. Norton for Plaintiffs and Respondents.

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The trial court denied a defense motion to compel arbitration. We reverse.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

This appeal from an order denying a defense motion to compel arbitration arises out of a 2017 contract to sell a single-family residence in La Canada, California. The buyers, Derek Rohan and Angela Saverice-Rohan (collectively, the Rohans) signed the agreement, as did the seller, Jaybell, LLC. The purchase agreement includes an arbitration provision obligating “the parties” to the agreement to arbitrate any dispute arising out of the agreement itself or the underlying transaction (and providing that enforcement of the agreement to arbitrate is governed by the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA)).

Soon after the Rohans moved into their new house, they encountered problems with the air conditioning and other systems; by 2019, Jaybell had refused to honor the builder’s warranty included in the purchase documents. In December 2019, the Rohans sued Jaybell for breach of contract, negligence, and two fraud causes of action. In January 2020, Jaybell demurred and filed a motion to strike. Presumably, the demurrer was sustained with leave to amend, and the Rohans filed a first amended complaint, adding Duk J. Corporation (doing business as Samwon Construction), Sunnie S. Kim, Kyung Won Aum, and GS Heating and Air Conditioning, Inc. as defendants. Another demurrer was filed but presumably overruled (since the first amended complaint appears to be the operative pleading). In May 2020, the Rohans filed an amendment to their first amended complaint naming Maurice Maisnik as Doe 1. In June and July 2020, Appellants answered (without raising arbitration as an affirmative defense) and GS Heating filed a cross-complaint. Discovery ensued and a trial date was set for August 2021, but at Appellants’ request was continued to June 2022. Several parties changed lawyers in the spring of 2021 and in May — 17