Tenant Waives Right to Arbitration Through Litigation Participation

A tenant who had signed a lease agreement containing an arbitration clause, and who subsequently engaged in litigation regarding the lease before initiating arbitration, was deemed to have waived their right to arbitration because their procedural actions in court demonstrated an intent to submit the dispute to the jurisdiction of the ordinary courts. The court affirmed that the right to arbitration can be implicitly waived through actions inconsistent with the intention to arbitrate, such as actively participating in litigation proceedings concerning the merits of the dispute before seeking to enforce the arbitration agreement.