DiMarco

Plaintiffs and appellants Joel DiMarco and Linda DiMarco (collectively, DiMarco) appeal a judgment insofar as it awards $19,575 in attorney fees and other costs to defendant and respondent Dixie N. Chaney (Chaney).

The essential issues are whether the arbitrator exceeded his powers by denying an award of attorney fees and costs to Chaney, and whether the trial court erred in awarding attorney fees and costs to Chaney for the underlying arbitration instead of remanding to the arbitrator for that purpose.

We conclude the arbitrator exceeded his powers in denying Chaney’s request for attorney fees and costs because Chaney was entitled thereto as the prevailing party under the contract. Therefore, the trial court was empowered to correct the award to provide for an award of attorney fees and costs to Chaney. However, the trial court erred in determining the amount to which Chaney was entitled for the underlying arbitration proceeding because that issue was within the arbitrator’s purview.

Therefore, the judgment is reversed with respect to the $19,575 award of costs and the matter is remanded to the trial court with directions to remand to the arbitrator for a…