Excerpt: ..., subdivision (b), setting aside this Court's August 25, 2022, order denying Plaintiff a protective order and awarding sanctions (the Order). Plaintiff further requests an order setting a hearing date regarding Plaintiff's motion for a protective order. The Guimaraes Defendants oppose the motion. Pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 473, subdivision (b): The court may, upon any terms as may be just, relieve a party or his or her legal repr...

Excerpt: ... $80,000. (ld. p. 3, II. 19-20, 28.) Plaintiff alleges the offer was accepted on behalf of Wa ler by her attorney Vincent Martinez. (ld. p. 4, II. 1-2.) Plaintiff alleges that he sent payment of $20,000 to Martinez's lawfirm of Twitchell and Rice ("Twitchell"), along with other payments. (ld. II. 11- 12, 17-18.) In January of 2019, Plaintiff was informed by a secretary for Twitchell that the contract would be written up and the Property placed in...

Excerpt: ...pute concerns alleged construction defects. Specifically, "major foundation settlement [issues] that will require stabilization and related repairs to the damaged structure," i.e., Plaintiffs' residence. (FAC, 10, 11.) Palomar moves for summary judgment, or in the alternative summary adjudication on the ground Plaintiffs' claims are barred by the applicable statutes of repose. (Code Civ. Proc„ SS 337.1, 337.15.)1 For the reasons set forth below...

Excerpt: ...ground The lawsuit arises out of five loans made to Plaintiff, which is a developer of a residential housing project ("Project") in Lompoc, California. The loans were brokered by MCC. Crooks is the President of MCC. All loans were secured by deeds of trust on lots of land within the Project. Each loan had an interest rate of 11% which would increase to 15% in the event of default. At some point, Plaintiff decided to pursue a construction loan wit...

Excerpt: ...3, II. 19-20, 28.) Plaintiff alleges the offer was accepted on behalf of Wa ler by her attorney Vincent Martinez. (ld. p. 4, II. 1-2.) Plaintiff alleges that he sent payment of $20,000 to Twitchell and Rice ("Twitchell"), along with other payments. (ld. II. 11-12, 17-18.) In January of 2019, Plaintiff was informed by a secretary for Twitchell that the contract would be written up and the property placed into escrow, but that Plaintiff first neede...

Excerpt: ...Harms, representative of the estate of David Harms and Jolene Harms (Harms) filed a creditor's claim in the total amount of $300,000. On September 21, 2022, the Public Administrator filed and served a rejection of that claim. Additionally, on August 24, 2022, and September 7, 2022, the Public Administrator filed notices of proposed action proposing to sell Decedent's real property. On December 21, 2022, Harms filed a petition for declaratory reli...

Excerpt: ...ed with the Court's probate department and assigned case number PR120281. Plaintiff filed an amended petition in December 2018 (the Amended Petition). 1 on September 9, 2019, Plaintiff filed a separate Petition for Instructons re Corrections, which he amended on August 24, 2020 (the 2020 Petition). In the interim, Plaintiff filed this civil complaint against Hazeltine, Glenn, Marianne Davis (Davis), Gail Edwards (Edwards), and Martin Harris (Harr...

Excerpt: ...15.98, plus interest, costs and fees. San Luis Obispo County Local Rule 25.02, provides a fee schedule for the award of attorney fees. Plaintiff now moves pursuant to Local Rule 25.04 for an increase in the amount of attorney fees awarded. Local Rule 25.04 prov-des as follows: In the event that counsel has provided extraordinary services in the prosecution of litigation such that the schedules called for in this rule would not provide a fair and ...

Excerpt: ...ey Harold Messick. Now before the Court is the demurrer filed by the Municipal Defendants. Plaintiff brings multiple causes of action which are premised on alleged mishandling of inspections or applications by the Municipal Defendants. Plaintiff opposes the demurrer.l Defendants have also filed a separate Motion to Strike portions of the FAC which is addressed herein. l. Background Plaintiff's FAC contains many causes of action and facts but enco...

Excerpt: ...c property, (3) dangerous condition caused by negligence of public employees, (4) trespass, (5) nuisance, (6) failure to discharge mandatory duty, and (7) temporary restraining order, and preliminary and permanent injunctions. The Individual Defendants are alleged to be employed with the County. (FAC, 3, 4.) Factual Background. Plaintiff's lawsuit relates to her pro#rty located at 5295 Toro Creek Road in Atascadero (the Property). Plaintiff alleg...

Excerpt: ...er 2, 2021, and Plaintiffs have been unrepresented since that date. The Court has held multiple case management conferences at which Plaintiffs represented they were seeking to obtain counsel, but no counsel has appeared. Plaintiff Candace Dowden informed the Court at an August 15, 2022, case management conference that defendant William Dowden was deceased. On November 4, 2022, Defendants filed a motion to compel the remaining plaintffs to join a...

Excerpt: ...On May 31, 2022, Defendant served timely objection-only responses to the Interrogatories and Document Request. On September 26, 2022, Plaintiff filed the subject Motion to Compel Verified Responses to Plaintiff's Form Interrogatories — Employment Law (Set One) ("Interrogatory Motion") and Motion to Compel Verified Responses to Plaintiff's Request for Production of Documents (Set One) ("Document Motion"). The Interrogatory Motion and Document Mo...

Excerpt: ...endant has generally denied all allegations against it, including that it negligently started the fire. On July 7, 2022, Plaintiff served Defendant with Special Interrogatories, Set One, consisting of five interrogatories ("Interrogatories") and Requests for Admissions, Set One, consisting of six requests ("Requests"). Defendant's responses were due on August 8, 2022. Defendant did not request an extension of time to serve responses. Defendant se...

Excerpt: ...MW SLO, which BMW SLO accepted. On August 23, 2022, judgment was entered against Defendants pursuant to that offer. Pursuant to the accepted 998 Offer, the parties stipulated for purposes of the offer and acceptance that judgment would be entered against BMW SLO in the amount of $47,021.75, exclusive of costs; that Plaintiff is the "prevailing plaintiff as used and defined by Civil Code section 1794, subdivision (d); and that Plaintiff would surr...

Excerpt: ...equitable easement, (5) quiet title to easement by necessity, (6) declaratory relief, and (7) preliminary and permanent injunction. The Verified Complaint Plaintiff's verified complaint sets forth the following facts. The Properties Plaintiff alleges she owns real property situated in an unincorporated area of San Luis Obispo County near Avila Beach, legally described as Parcel 2 of Parcel Map CO-99-037 in the County of San Luis Obispo. (Plaintif...

Excerpt: ...ing yard at property located at or near 550 Tank Farm Road in San Luis Obispo on October 6, 2021, when a large tree branch fell on him. On October 19, 2022, this Court denied Plaintiff's motion for an order granting trial preference pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure2 section 36(a). Now before the Court is Plaintiff's renewed motion for preference. Oppositions are on file from Agera, Bunyon, and Covelop. The City has filed a joinder to the motio...

Excerpt: ...ved with the summons and complaint on May 13, 2022. Hansen did not file a responsive pleading, and default was entered on August 11, 2022. Hansen now moves to set aside the default. The Court is not in receipt of an opposition; a proof of service is on file. Code of Civil Procedure section 473 authorizes the Court to set aside a default and grant leave to defend the action on grounds of "mistake, inadvertence, surprise or excusable neglect." (Cod...

Excerpt: ...C (Defendants). Plaintiffs also seek an order holding Belsher in contempt of court. Defendants oppose the motion. Relevant Factual Background This case has been heavily litigated. Of note are the following motions: On June 30, 2022, this Court denied Plaintiffs' motion to compel discovery as moot. The Court granted Plaintiffs' request for sanctions and ordered Belsher to pay Plaintiffs $2,695 in sanctions within 30 days. In the instant motion, Pl...

Excerpt: ...dential housing project in Lompoc, California. The loans were brokered by defendant Mid-coast Capital, Inc. ("MCC'). The lender of four of the five loans in question was non-party Miller Family Trust ("Trust"). The loans were secured by deeds of trusts on various lots of real property (Lots 1-5). At some point, Plaintiff decided to pursue a construction loan with RC8 Equities and agreed with RCB that it would have the lenders on the five loans re...

Excerpt: ...wned by Henry Pangelinan ("Pangelinan") and leased by the Hickeys (the "Condo".) Allegedly, the fire began when the Grays, who were social guests of the Hickeys, negligently used the oven in the Condo. The Condo is part of the BaycliffVillage Homeowner's Association, which is insured through Traveler's. Now before the Court is the Grays' motion for summary judgment. The Grays have raised the issue of whether a social guest should be treated as a ...

Excerpt: ...le a responsive pleading. A default judgment was entered on October 20, 2022. Notice of Entry of Judgment was served on October 24, 2022. Joseph filed the subject motion to set aside default on October 28, 2022. Jemmstone, LLC filed opposition to the motion on March 10, 2023. Joseph filed his reply on March 21, 2023. Joseph seeks discretionary relief from default based on excusable neglect. Joseph declares that he worked for many years on commerc...

Excerpt: ...lapsed under her. On June 30, 2022, Defendant served Requests for Production Set One ("RFP"), Form Interrogatories Set One, and Special Interrogatories Set One (collectively "interrogatories") on Plaintiff. On August 17, 2022 Plaintiff served her responses to all discovery requests. Plaintiff served an amended response on October 25, 2022. Defendant's counsel attempted a meet and confer by letter dated November 21, 2022. (Declaration of Matthew H...

Excerpt: ...ownership of real property at 118 Clydell Court in Pismo Beach, California (the Property). Plaintiff alleges that he is the owner of an undivided 90% interest in the Property and Defendant is an owner of an undivided 10% interest in the Property. (Comp., "1 3, 4.) Plaintiff alleges that he and Defendant entered into a written agreement providing that he would convey Plaintiff a 10% undivided interest in the Property, and that the parties would li...

Excerpt: ...ustained with leave to amend. On October 8, 2021, Plaintiff filed a second amended complaint (SAC). On May 16, 2022, the Court sustained Knudson's demurrer to the SAC without leave to amend. 1 Knudson now seeks attorney's fees of $58,772 pursuant to section 6.8 of the parties' Stock Purchase Agreement (SPA), which provides in relevant part: Attorney's Fees. If any legal action or proceeding arising out of or relating to this Agreement is brought ...

Excerpt: ...nswer on June 22, 2022. Wells Fargo now moves for summary judgment pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 473c. Wells Fargo moves on the ground that there is no triable issue of fact as to each of its six causes of action. Its motion is supported by its separate statement, a declaration from counsel, Defendant's responses to Wells Fargo's Requests for Admission, and the declaration of Plaintiff's Qualified Witness Margaret Schulze, Loan Work...

Excerpt: ...endants' motion to disqualify Plaintiff's supplemental expert witness Mark Apodaca. Under [Code of Civil Procedurel ] section 2034.210, subdivision (a), a party may demand a mutual and simultaneous exchange of each expert witness that any party 'expects to offer in evidence at trial.' And section 2034.260, subdivision (b)(l), requires an expert witness disclosure to list every expert 'that the party expects to offer' in evidence at trial... The s...

Excerpt: ...empleton, CA (the "Property"), that Plaintiff alleges is her personal residence, and arises out of Plaintiff seeking a loan modification related to that Property. l. Background On or about May 17, 2006, Plaintiff obtained a $950,000 loan ("Loan") from Homecoming Financial Network, Inc. as evidenced by an Adjustable Rate Note dated May 17, 2006 and secured against the Property by Deed ofTrust recorded June 1, 2006. (UMF 1.) (Declaration of Gina Fe...

Excerpt: ..., failure to provide notice of sick leave, and failure to provide accurate wage statements. Plaintiff seeks penalties and damages under the Labor Code, the Business and Professions Code, and the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA). After a mediation with Glenn E. Lerman, Esq„ the parties have reached a settlement. Now before the Court is Plaintiff's motion for preliminary approval of the class action settlement, wherein Plaintiff requests the ...

Excerpt: ... Exs. E, F, G.) Plaintiff found certain responses to be insufficient. After meeting and conferring, and follow-ng extensions of tme to respond, Plaintiff filed motons to compel further responses to certain RFPs, RFAs, and form interrogatories. Smart72 served amended discovery responses on Plaintiff concurrently with its opposition brief. (Further Supplemental Declaration of Rebecca Peterson-Fisher (F. Supp. Peterson-Fisher Dec.), 1, Ex. A.) Smart...

Excerpt: ...ants Chad M. Reinhart; Jessica Reinhart née Stout; Stone Mountain Retreat, LLC; and Stone Mountain Ranch, LLC. The complaint asserts causes of achon for (1) breach and overburdening of easements; (2) trespass; (3) nuisance; (4) declaratory relief; and (5) injunctive relief. The Verified Complaint Plaintiffs' verified complaint sets forth the following facts. The Properties and Easements Plaintiffs and Defendants are neighbors who live on Davis C...

Excerpt: ...motion to quash service. Respondent argues that at all times relevant to the Trust, he did not live in California and currently res-des in the State ofVirginia. (Declaration of Gregory Bernhard ("Bernhard Decl.") '1 5.) Respondent states that he does not own property or do business in California. (Ibid.) According to Respondent, in 2016, the Surviving Settlor of the Trust, Donald R. Bernhard ("Donaldl sold his California residence and moved to Vi...

Excerpt: ...monthly payments of $679.60. Plaintiff alleges that Defendant has defaulted on the loan and refused to surrender possession of the Vehicle. Now before the Court are Plaintiff's unopposed motions to compel and request for sanctions. On April 8, 2022, Plaintiff served upon Defendant the following discovery requests: 1) Form Interrogatories, Set One; 2) Special Interrogatories, Set One; 3) Demand for Production of Documents, Set One; and 4) Requests...

Excerpt: ...lief (Code Civ. Proc„ SS 760.020, 761.020); verified petitions for administrative writ (Code Civ. Proc„ S 1094.5), and/or writ of traditional mandate (Code Civ. Proc., S 1085) on May 11, 2021. The achon is filed against the California Department of Parks and Recreation (State Parks), County of San Luis Obispo (the County), California Department of General Services (DGS), State of California, San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution Control Distri...

Excerpt: ...20, 2022. Defendant did not file a responsive pleading, and default was entered on March 3, 2022. Defendant now moves to set aside the default. Code of Civil Procedure section 473 authorizes the Court to set aside a default and grant leave to defend the action on grounds of "mistake, inadvertence, surprise or excusable neglect." (Code Civ. Proc., S 473(b).) The motion for discretionary relief must be filed within six months after the clerk's entr...

Excerpt: ... to ASH personnel for a "preference diet." Currently on calendar is Plaintiff's request that the Court provide a court reporter to serve as a deposition officer for written depositions via video conferencing, or in the alternative, that the Court appoint a deposition offcer to conduct the written depositions, and have the defendants bear the cost. ASH opposes the request that it pay for the deposition officer.l Wr-tten depositions are authorized ...

Excerpt: ...nated; and that We Is Fargo failed to provide Plaintiff with a reasonable accommodation and failed to engage in the interactive process. Now before the Court is Defendants' motion for a protective order and request for sanctions in the amount of This motion relates to Plaintiff's attempt to take the deposition of non party Christopher Smith. In general, depositions of any person may be taken without leave of court at any time during the pendency ...

Excerpt: ... incarcerated as a result of Defendants' negligence. (Gov. Code, S 815.6.) Now before the Court is Defendants' motion for judgment on the pleadings. The Court grants Defendants' request judicial notice of Governor Newsom's proclamation of the state emergency dated March 4, 2020. l. Background Plaintiff is an inmate at CMC, and at all times relevant to this cause of action was housed in Dorm 12 and had a COVID-19 risk score of 3. (Complaint Cause ...

Excerpt: .... Now before the Court are Plaintiff's four unopposed motions to compel and request for sanctions. On May 26, 2022, Plaintiff propounded Supplemental Interrogatories and Supplemental Requests for Production Set Two. (Declaration of Tonya Ortega ("Ortega Decl.") 93, Ex A.) The parties mutually agreed to extend the response date to July 6, 2022. As of the filing of the motion, Defendant has not served outstanding responses. (ld. at '14.) On June 16...

Excerpt: ...vehicle left to avoid hitting Defendant on his driver's side. Plaintiff alleges his vehicle then veered off the road and he hit a tree head-on. Now before the Court is Plaintiff's motion to deem facts admitted or in the alternative to compel further responses to requests for admission nos. 1, 6, 7, 8, and 13, and for monetary sanctions in the amount of $1,810. Plaintiff's first request, which is to deem the facts in the requests for admission (RF...

Excerpt: ... Now before the Court is Defendants' motion to compel Plaintiff to appear for her deposition. The Court will not delve into the meet-and-confer communications between counsel. Suffice to say, Plaintiffs' counsel (located in Los Angeles) and defense counsel (located in Novato) cannot agree on the date, location, and manner of Plaintiff's deposition. The gist of the parties' dispute is whether Plaintiff will appear for her deposition in person, or ...

Excerpt: ...to the Handleys into equity in the development of the Resort Project at issue in this matter; • Declaratory relief ordering that the Handleys are not in breach of the loan agreements that were the subject of the Settlement Agreement; • Injunctive relief asking for an order prohibiting Stier from taking any action to enforce said loan agreements either through foreclosure or a money judgment; • Include in the prayer for relief a request for ...

Excerpt: ...) Plaintiff opposes the demurrer.1 Demurrers can be used only to challenge defects that appear on the face of the pleading under attack; or from matters outside the pleading that are judicially noticeable. (Blank v. Kirwan (1985) 39 C3d 311, 318.) The court must draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the plaintiffs, not the defendant. (Perez v. Golden Empire Transit Dist. (2012) 209 Cal.App.4th 1228, 1239.) I. Background2 Crosbie's allegation...

Excerpt: ...ya Ortega (“Ortega Decl.”) ¶ 4, Ex. A.) Each deposition subpoena also requested extensive document production related primarily to Plaintiff's workers compensation claims and benefits. Plaintiff now moves to quash the subpoenas and for a protective order. Plaintiff also seeks sanctions against defense counsel. Plaintiff argues that the depositions were set unilaterally on a date upon which Plaintiff's counsel, Ms. Ortega, was not available a...

Excerpt: ... located at 802 Park Way, in Arroyo Grande (the Property). Plaintiffs allege that Mary Kim and her husband Kenny Kim, through the Trust, purchased the Property in 2018 for Plaintiffs. Mary and Kenny made a private loan to Plaintiffs, memorialized by a promissory note, requiring Plaintiffs to make monthly payments on the $485,000 note. Plaintiffs allege they paid at least $500 per month in cash per the note's terms, from October 2018 to November 2...

Excerpt: ...nts kept by Plaintiff, that constituted the principal record of transactions between Plaintiff and Defendant relative to Defendant's credit card account, and none of the statements were disputed by Defendant. Defendant opposes the motion. The Court grants Plaintiff's request that the Court take judicial notice of 15 U.S.C. section 1666, and 12 C.F.R. section 202.12. Plaintiff's motion is supported by its separate statement of undisputed material ...

Excerpt: ...lopment Permit Project No. P20-000076 (the Permit). The Amended Petition requests a writ directing the City to approve the Permit “without any unlawful conditions attached.” (Amd. Pet., p. 14, ll. 1- 4.) Currently before the Court is the City's demurrer to the Amended Petition on the ground it fails to state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action. (Code Civ. Proc., § 430.10, subd. (e).) Specifically, the City argues that Petitioner...

Excerpt: ...ction and response to the Petition. On August 9, 2022, Petitioner dismissed the action. On August 18, 2022, Respondent filed a motion to vacate the dismissal. Petitioner opposes the motion. No reply is on file. Respondent filed her motion pursuant to Probate Code section 17202, which provides that the court may dismiss a petition if it appears that the proceeding is not reasonably necessary to protect the interests of the trustee or beneficiary, ...

Excerpt: ... judgment on those causes of action. No opposition has been filed. Wells Fargo, as the moving party, bears the burden to produce admissible evidence on each element of each cause of action entitling it to judgment. (Code Civ. Proc., § 437c, subd. (p)(1); see also Aguilar v. Atlantic Richfield Co. (2001) 25 Cal.4th 826, 850.) If Wells Fargo makes a prima facie showing, then the burden shifts to Taber to show the existence of a triable issue of ma...

Excerpt: ...l wages due, including minimum, regular, and overtime wages as a result of Defendant's policy of improperly paying its non-exempt hourly employees; (2) failure to provide meal periods; (3) failure to provide rest periods; (4) failure to provide accurate wage statements; and (5) failure to pay wages upon ending employment of terminated or resigned employees. (Compl., ¶ 2.) Plaintiff alleges that she was employed by the Defendant from on or about ...

Excerpt: ... the FAC alleges that Plaintiffs were forced to do work for Defendant as mechanics and personal attendants and as such, are entitled to compensation as employees. Defendant now demurs to the entire FAC pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure sections 430.10, subds. (e) and (f) on the grounds that it fails to state a cause of action and is uncertain.1 Plaintiff opposes the demurrer. No reply is on file. Defendant's counsel submitted a declaration chec...