Excerpt: ...olving adjudication of complex issues of legal and beneficial title to property.” (Martin‐Bragg v. Moore (2013) 219 Cal.App.4th 367, 394.) The Court has denied plaintiffs' motion because this civil action does not involve such issues. The First, Fifth and Sixth Causes of Action are based on alleged irregularities in the service and posting of the notice of trustee's sale. (See Complaint, ¶¶ 29‐31.) Plaintiffs acknowledge in their opening ...

Excerpt: ...'s parents“ refused to have their son apologize or take responsibility for a dreadful decision.” (2) The portion of the Instagram post where Defendant stated that N.Y.'s parents “refused to have their son apologize/take responsibility for a poor decision.” All other alleged defamatory statements are stricken from the complaint. Legal Standard “Resolution of an anti‐SLAPP motion [or special motion to strike] involves two steps. First, ...

Excerpt: ...r. Gordon and his Trust”). For reasons stated below, the Motion to Strike is granted, the Demurrer is overruled, and the MJOP is denied in part, and granted in part. Relevant Factual And Procedural Background This is a personal injury‐premises liability case. Plaintiff, Konstantinos Sakellariou (“Plaintiff”), alleges that he was injured at a property owned, operated, and maintained by the defendants in this matter. The following facts wer...

Excerpt: ...n it, examined the allegations of the FAC, not the allegations of the original complaint. CONTRA COSTA SUPERIOR COURT MARTINEZ, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT: 33 HEARING DATE: 04/19/18 ‐ 9 ‐ Second Cause of Action, Intentional Misrepresentation: The demurrer to this cause of action is overruled. In challenging this cause of action, defendant cites the rule that fraud must be pleaded specifically and argues the FAC is insufficiently specific in explai...

Excerpt: ...a Dang, D.D.S. (“Dr. Dang”) at the time she passed away. Plaintiffs move pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure (“CCP”) section 425.13, which governs the amendment of complaints to include claims for punitive damages against health care providers: In any action for damages arising out of the professional negligence of a health care provider, no claim for punitive damages shall be included in a complaint or other pleading unless the court ent...

Excerpt: ...y false and/or intentionally misleading fact allegations relating to Plaintiff's failure to exhaust his administrative remedies.” (Def. Memo of P & A, 2:5‐6.) Defendants contend the complaint falsely alleges that Plaintiff exhausted his administrative remedies necessary to maintain a FEHA claim. “‘Before filing a civil action alleging FEHA violations, an employee must exhaust his or her administrative remedies with DFEH.' [Citation.] Exha...

Excerpt: ...t, rule 3.1110, subd. (f); Local 3.42, subd. (3).) Plaintiffs' attorneys, who practice in the law firm CONTRA COSTA SUPERIOR COURT MARTINEZ, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT: 33 HEARING DATE: 04/12/18 ‐ 13 ‐ JT Legal Group, APC, are hereby admonished that future failures to tab exhibits in this or other cases may result in an award of monetary sanctions, the disregard of non‐conforming documents, or both. 1. Irreparable Harm. In February 2018, defenda...

Excerpt: ...murrer. The Demurrer is opposed (filed as an “Answer” to Defendant's Demurrer) by plaintiffs, in pro per, Greg and Ramona Mayon (collectively “Plaintiffs”). Defendant replied. For the reasons stated below, Defendant's Demurrer is overruled. Defendant shall file an answer on or before April 27, 2018. Brief Factual and Procedural Background Defendant is the landlord and owner of the mobilehome park where Plaintiffs reside. Generally, Plaint...

Excerpt: ...e of action subject to the requirements of this article, whether through oversight, inadvertence, mistake, neglect, or other cause, may apply to the court for leave to amend his pleading, or to file a crosscomplaint, to assert such cause at any time during the course of the action. The court, after notice to the adverse party, shall grant, upon such terms as may be just to the parties, leave to amend the pleading, or to file the cross‐complaint...

Excerpt: ...est the granting of Plaintiffs' motion then that party should follow the normal rules for contesting a tentative ruling. Although not raised by the parties, the Court notes that the moving party on this motion failed to comply with all the requirements in California Rules of Court, Rule 3.1324. The parties should comply with this rule, as well as all Rules of Court, at all times. There is “a policy of great liberality in permitting amendments t...

Excerpt: ... may “deny leave when the proposed amendment or amended pleading is insufficient to state a cause of action or defense.” (Congleton v. Nat'l Union Fire Ins. Co. (1987) 189 Cal.App.3d 51, 62.) The Court notes a trial date of July 16, 2018, continued upon stipulation of the parties from November 22, 2017. While this motion for leave to amend is not brought on the “eve” of trial, discovery has been closed. The City also has a pending mot...

Excerpt: ...er Decl., ¶ 21 a, b, d, e, f; Pltf's Ex. 10, p. 151.) Telecare argues it is entitled to summary judgment for three reasons: (1) plaintiff's action against it is barred by the statute of limitations; (2) plaintiff cannot establish it was negligent; and (3) plaintiff cannot establish that any negligence by Telecare caused her injuries. CONTRA COSTA SUPERIOR COURT MARTINEZ, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT: 33 HEARING DATE: 04/12/18 ‐ 4 ‐ 1. Statute of li...

Excerpt: ...stee's sale, and the Ninth Cause of Action, for quiet title. These causes of action lack merit because plaintiff has failed to allege a tender of the sums due under the subject note and deed of trust, and has failed to allege facts showing a valid exception to the rule requiring CONTRA COSTA SUPERIOR COURT MARTINEZ, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT: 33 HEARING DATE: 04/12/18 ‐ 12 ‐ tender. (See, Nguyen v. Calhoun (2003) 105 Cal.App.4th 428, 439 [the ten...

Excerpt: ...Code section 13559, which states, in part, as follows: [Following] an order of suspension or revocation of the person's privilege to operate a motor vehicle after the hearing pursuant to Section 13558, the person may file a petition for review of the order in the court of competent jurisdiction in the person's county of residence. . . .The review shall be on the record of the hearing and the court shall not consider other evidence. If the court f...

Excerpt: ...ts ought to be stricken, because the Court is without authority to issue a writ directing any relief to such unidentified general assistance recipients. Third, the County contends that portions of the prayer for relief ought to be stricken, tracking the arguments made above. Sixth Cause of Action The motion is denied as to the sixth cause of action. If the County wished to argue that the entire sixth cause of action is legally defective, the appr...

Excerpt: ...l” HBOR violation; despite any frustration plaintiff may have experienced in dealing with multiple loan officers, plaintiff did succeed in having a series of applications for a loan modification considered by defendant. Also, plaintiff improperly conflates the procedural requirements of HBOR with the substantive decision of whether to offer plaintiff a loan modification; denying an application for a loan application based on a rationale that th...

Excerpt: ...ame parties bars Plaintiff's complaint and (2) Plaintiff's complaint is uncertain. In Defendant's memorandum of points and authorities Defendant also argues that Plaintiff's claim fails to state a cause of action. That ground was not included in the demurrer and will not be considered by the Court at this time. Res Judicata Defendant argues that Plaintiff's complaint is barred by res judicata because there was a final judgment on the merits in a ...

Excerpt: ...C”) appears to meet the definition in Article XIII, Section 3, which requires vessels of more than 50 tons' burden. That is alleged. (SAC, paragraph 12) Article XIII, Section 3 also requires that the vessels be “engaged in the transportation of freight or passengers.” That is also alleged, as the courts have interpreted that phrase. The phrase has been interpreted to mean that a vessel must be carrying goods that someone is paying to be tra...

Excerpt: ...pplicable to public entities. See Eastburn v. Regional Fire Protection Authority (2003) 31 Cal.4th 1175, 1183; Zelig v. County of Los Angeles (2002) 27 Cal.4th 1112, 1132. The first and second causes of action are both negligence claims pled against Doe Defendants. On the dangerous condition of public property claim, the City moves for summary judgment on four (4) grounds: (1) Plaintiff has no evidence that the City of Antioch created the dangero...

Excerpt: ...use plaintiff has dismissed this lawsuit with prejudice. Plaintiff argues that the lis pendens should not be expunged because the case needs to be reactivated due to defendant's breach of some unspecified stipulation. In pertinent part, Code of Civil Procedure section 405.30 provides as follows: “At any time after notice of pendency of action has been recorded, any party . . . may apply to the court in which the action is pending to expunge the...

Excerpt: ...Court cannot conclude that collateral estoppel applies as a matter of law. As a result, the MSJ is denied. CONTRA COSTA SUPERIOR COURT MARTINEZ, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT: 33 HEARING DATE: 03/29/18 ‐ 6 ‐ Brief Background This case arises out of a landlord‐tenant relationship between two of the plaintiffs, Olga Chan and Feliciano Puerto, and the moving defendant, Sekk Investments. Chan and Puerto were tenants at a property in Concord. In the fal...

Excerpt: ...e effective, such a release must be clear, unambiguous, and explicit in expressing the intent of the subscribing parties. Yet, the release need not achieve perfection. See Paralift, Inc. v. Superior Court (1993) 23 Cal.App.4th 748, 755. The determination of whether a release contains ambiguities is a matter of contractual construction. See Paralift, supra, 23 Cal.App.4th at 754‐ 755. An ambiguity exists when a party can identify an alternative,...

Excerpt: ...Edgardo Bejarano and plaintiff David Marks (collectively “Plaintiffs”). Defendants have filed a reply. For reasons stated below, the Motion is granted. Relevant Factual and Procedural Background This is a personal injury case involving a motor vehicle collision. Plaintiffs were both riding a single bicycle when they were struck by a vehicle owned by defendant Claudio Escoto and driven by defendant Adrianna Escoto. It is undisputed that Plaint...

Excerpt: ....12; (4) negligence; and (5) violation of Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200. On January 23, 2018, Plaintiff filed an Ex Parte Application for Temporary Restraining Order. The Court heard the Ex Parte Application, granted the TRO, and entered an Order to Show Cause to show why a preliminary injunction should not be granted, enjoining the Trustee's Sale of the Subject Property. The OSC was originally set for February 22, 2018. The parties stipulated ...

Excerpt: ...int which allege that defendants have been sued repeatedly for elder abuse caused by understaffing and lack of staff training, have received repeated Statements of Deficiencies from the California Department of Public Health (the “Department”) regarding similar concerns, and have been repeatedly cited by the Department regarding similar concerns. To obtain enhanced remedies in an elder abuse action, the plaintiff must prove a pattern of reckl...