Siegel

C. Stephen Johnson’s new home flooded during a rainstorm, he filed an action against the sellers of the home, alleging that they had intentionally and negligently failed to disclose flooding and drainage problems on the property. The sellers moved for summary judgment on the ground that Johnson had filed suit without initiating arbitration, as required by the parties’ residential purchase agreement. The trial court granted the sellers’ motion, judgment was entered, and this appeal followed. For reasons we shall explain, we affirm the granting of summary judgment. However, as we also explain, the granting of summary judgment does not preclude Johnson from filing a petition to compel arbitration. Johnson also appeals from the trial court’s order awarding attorney fees to the Siegels. We shall affirm that award.

Facts

On July 16, 1998, Johnson offered to buy, and Howard and Diane Siegel agreed to sell, the property at 241 Aptos Beach Drive in Aptos for $475,000. The parties used a standard California Association of Realtors’ Residential Purchase Agreement and Receipt for Deposit. The real estate purchase agreement provided at paragraph 6, entitled “Transfer Disclosure…