Virgilio v. Pickford Real Estate, Inc. CA4/1
In this dispute between a putative class of home-seller plaintiffs and a real estate broker, its agents, and several real estate service providers, defendants appeal from an order denying their petition to compel arbitration. The trial court found that while defendants who were signatories or agents of signatories had a valid basis for compelling arbitration, the nonsignatory defendants did not. And in the face of potentially inconsistent results, the court invoked Code of Civil Procedure section 1281.2, subdivision (c) (hereafter section 1281.2(c)) to deny arbitration as to all defendants.
We reverse. Because plaintiffs' claims against the nonsignatory defendants are dependent on and inextricably intertwined with the terms and obligations of the agreement containing the relevant arbitration provision, equitable estoppel allows the nonsignatory defendants to compel arbitration.
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