Motion to Compel Arbitration in California

Co-Founder of SoloSuit
George Simons, JD/MBA

George Simons is the co-founder and CEO of SoloSuit. He has helped Americans protect over $1 billion from predatory debt lawsuits. George graduated from BYU Law school in 2020 with a JD-MBA. In his spare time, George likes to cook, because he likes to eat.

Edited by Hannah Locklear

Editor at SoloSuit
Hannah Locklear, BA

Hannah Locklear is SoloSuit’s Marketing and Impact Manager. With an educational background in Linguistics, Spanish, and International Development from Brigham Young University, Hannah has also worked as a legal support specialist for several years.

Summary: To file a motion to compel arbitration in California without an attorney: Draft the motion, establish a valid arbitration agreement, submit the motion with a $60 fee, and serve the opposing party. Arbitration can be cheaper and faster than litigation, with confidentiality benefits. California law generally supports arbitration agreements.

Arbitration clauses are widespread in construction contracts. The clauses require all disputed contract agreements to be submitted to arbitration instead of filing them in courts. The process is relatively cheaper compared to litigation and the numerous court procedures.

Arbitration also provides flexible options to the involved parties, leading to a faster dispute solution while allowing confidentiality between the parties involved. However, some parties may prefer traditional litigation whereby they can appeal the rulings and disputes presented in an open courtroom.

This way, the judges are aware that their decisions are being recorded for public reference. Therefore, some parties may decline to arbitrate their disputes before filing a case with the court of law directly, even with the availability of arbitration written agreements.

The party compelling the arbitration must establish a valid arbitration agreement while the arbitration opposing party provides evidence to defend itself. The trial court's role is to sit as a fact trier to weigh any affidavits, declarations, and other available evidence to determine the arbitrability issue. Arbitration agreements are valid, irreversible, and the law courts impose them on the law and equity grounds.

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Motion to Compel Arbitration process in California

The party compelling the arbitration establishes its demand for arbitration from the other party. The other party refuses to arbitrate as demanded by the California Code of Civil Procedure Section 1281.2.

When the petitioner alleges the arbitration agreement's existence, the respondent must prove if the purported contract is false. If the respondent challenges the arbitration agreement's existence, the petitioner will prove that the deal exists using any valid evidence.

The other party might have filed a court complaint already to allege the claims covered by the arbitration agreement. In that case, the party pursuing arbitration does not need to prove its demand for arbitration and the plaintiff's refusal.

It is because the filed complaint effectively constitutes an arbitration refusal. Thirty days after being summoned, the claimant must file and serve a motion and notice to keep the action pending the arbitration of any doubt that is arbitrable under the agreement.

The doubt should be relevant to enforce the claim of lien. If the claimant fails to comply, there might be a waiver of the claimer's right to compel arbitration.

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How California courts deal with the Complaint

Legally, the respondent carries the burden of proving that the agreement is void. California underwriters constrain the court to interpret the arbitration agreement terms liberally. It ensures that the ruling given favors the arbitration.

The law courts do not give out waivers so easily. The party seeking a waiver must provide enough reasons why a waiver must be granted to it. There are no specific determinants for waivers as the court decides whether to give or not to give a waiver.

Like other federal laws, California law strongly favors the terms of the arbitration agreement. The law also conducts a thorough judicial investigation to parties claiming waivers.

When a party may fail to adhere to the arbitration terms, the California law will determine the existence of this disputed arbitration agreement. If the court finds out that the agreement is actual and legal, it will order both parties to adhere to the arbitration agreement.

When giving the verdict, the court first determines whether the petitioner and the respondent agreed to the dispute arbitration. The determination derives from the California contract law general principles. Since arbitration is like a contract, one party cannot pull the other to a dispute arbitration it did not agree to submit.

Failure to read the agreement and amendments terms carefully is not a reason to evade the arbitration.

Can the court nullify the arbitration?

The California court orders the parties not to arbitrate if:

It determines that the petitioner has waived the right to compel arbitration
There is an existence of grounds for the agreement revocation
The petitioner (a state or a federal money lending institution) created the purported contractual relationship using fraud without the respondent's consent and used the respondent's identification details unlawfully
A party in the arbitration agreement is also involved in another ongoing court action with a third party related to the conflict. However, this does not apply to dispute arbitration agreements for the professional negligence of health care providers

Litigation participation does not guarantee a waiver of the arbitration right. It would be illogical for a party participating in a lawsuit for contract breaching to request the court later to keep the litigation pending the arbitration.

The party seeking a waiver must prove that some detriment delayed the other party to seek arbitration. The court will allow arbitration provided the petitioner's disagreements are not distinct from the disputed arbitration agreement. If the court orders for arbitration, it will ensure that the parties perform the agreement effectively.

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Who pays for arbitration in California?

Arbitration can cost a pretty penny, but who is responsible for paying arbitration fees?

The arbitration clause states which party must pay for arbitration. In many cases, the debt collector is responsible for paying arbitration fees. To help consumers find out who must pay for arbitration, The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has compiled a database of credit card agreements for all banks and credit cards in the US.

SoloSuit's arbitration video explains how to search the arbitration clause to find out who pays for arbitration:

Example of arbitration in California

Hyundai Amco subcontracted with S3H to design and construct mechanical systems for installation in the Hyundai Motor America Incorporation headquarters in the United States. This contract had an arbitration and California choice-of-law provisions included.

However, during construction, after Hyundai Amco had paid some arrears for the contract, S3H dissolved its business and abandoned the agreement's ligations. Hyundai Amco demanded S3H to settle the dispute through a written document as S3H had breached the contract.

Without further communications after that, Hyundai Amco filed a case against S3H in the Orange County Superior Court in California. Hyundai Amco took S3H to court for contract breach, conversion, concealment, intentional fraud, fraud with a false impression, equitable commutation, fraudulent transfer, and constructive trust.

The court denied S3H's motion to compel the arbitration because S3H failed to assert Hyundai Amco refused its arbitration demand. However, the Court of Appeal overruled the verdict, reasoning that Hyundai Amco would have commenced arbitration proceedings as per the agreement instead of filing a lawsuit. This action affirmed Hyundai Amco's refusal to arbitrate the dispute. This ruling has increased the number of successful motions to compel arbitration in various cases.

How to file a Motion in California

Here are some basic steps on filing a Motion in California:

Draft the Motion. Use this sample.
Pay the Motion filing fee, which is $60 in California.
Submit the document to the court and opposing attorney. SoloSuit can also help with this step.

Check out California's legal self-help site for more information on filing Motions.

Motion to Compel Arbitration sample

SoloSuit makes it easy to draft and file a motion to compel arbitration. Check out this sample of a motion to compel arbitration to see if it's a good fit for your needs.

Petition to compel arbitration in California

Some California courts may refer to the motion to compel arbitration as a Petition to Compel Arbitration, but they mean the same thing. Even California's Rule 3.1330 uses both titles, so don't let the legal jargon confuse you.

What comes after a civil summons for debt collection?

The Summons is just the beginning. A series of documents can come after, and even before the Summons. The diagram below shows the possible paths of documents in a debt collection lawsuit.

Debt Collection Lawsuit Flowchart

Filing a motion to compel arbitration in lieu of an Answer

According to California's rules of civil procedure, a defendant can file a motion to compel arbitration instead of an Answer. However, if the motion (aka petition) is denied, the defendant will have 15 days from the denial to respond to the complaint with an Answer.

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How it works: SoloSuit is a step-by-step web-app that asks you all the necessary questions to complete your answer. Upon completion, you can either print the completed forms and mail in the hard copies to the courts or you can pay SoloSuit to file it for you and to have an attorney review the document.

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What happens in arbitration?

We wanted to learn more about the arbitration process and when to file a motion to compel arbitration in California, so we asked an attorney. Here are some helpful tips and tricks on arbitration from a debt lawyer:

Filing a motion to compel arbitration allows for the transition of a case from a traditional court setting to a private arbitration environment.
Arbitration can be beneficial, especially if the arbitration costs for the creditor outweigh the value of the debt, which may sometimes lead to the dismissal of a debt lawsuit case.
Arbitration can be expensive since the fees of the arbitrator are typically divided and shared by both involved parties.
The arbitration process is similar to a court trial but is generally more informal and does not include the option of a jury.
If you're being sued for less than $30,000, arbitration might be a strategic option as the high costs of arbitration could discourage the creditor from pursuing the case.
The terms of the contract are key in determining who bears the arbitration fees; if your contract stipulates that you are responsible for these costs, arbitration may not be the best option for you.
Showing a clear intent to challenge the case can act as an incentive for creditors, often leading them to consider settling the matter outside of court.
Debtors are capable of negotiating settlements for their debts without the aid of an attorney, provided they have a good understanding of their case.

Watch the video below for the full conversation on arbitration with California attorney, Sarah Wolk:

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