McMillin Development, Inc. v. Home Buyers Warranty

*900 Opinion

In this case defendant and appellant Home Buyers Warranty (HBW) 1 raises one potentially meritorious issue: its right to a stay under Code of Civil Procedure 2 section 1281.4 during the pendency of an arbitration ordered by a federal district court in a related action. Our difficulty in providing any relief to HBW stems from the fact that it did not raise the stay issue in the trial court. Accordingly, and because we find no other error in the trial court’s order denying HBW’s petition to compel arbitration, we affirm the trial court’s orders without prejudice to HBW’s right to seek a stay on remand.

Factual and Procedural Summary

A. Prior Appeal

This is not the first time this dispute has been subject to an appeal in our court. In a prior appeal, McMillin Development, Inc. v. National Home Ins. Co. (Jan. 29, 1997) D020369 and D020737 (nonpub. opn.), we set forth the factual background and the procedural history, up to that point, of HBW’s dispute with plaintiff and respondent McMillin Development Inc. (McMillin). Because it is very helpful in understanding the issues raised on this appeal, we once again set forth pertinent portions of that factual background and…