La Hood v. Central Illinois Construction, Inc.

The issue on appeal is whether a party to a construction contract waives its contractual right to compel arbitration when it files a mechanics lien, then requests arbitration, but subsequently files an action pursuant to section 34 of the Mechanics Lien Act (Act) (770 ILCS 60/34 (West 2000)) and immediately files a stay thereof. We hold that under these circumstances it does not waive its right to arbitrate the dispute.

In this case, Central Illinois Construction, Inc., was the contractor and Dennis La Hood, d/b/a ATL Enterprises, Ltd., was the property owner who hired Central Illinois to…