Excerpt: ...e all of the County's claimed costs. The County's Opposition brief voluntarily retracted the request for FEDEX delivery costs, which reduced the County's claimed service of process costs from $1,977.60 down to $1,599.25, which in turn reduced the County's total requested costs down to $18,260. Having reviewed the arguments and evidence, for the reasons stated below, the Court finds the County shall recover total costs from Plaintiff in the amount...

Excerpt: ...an action to recover rent for months that were not addressed in that UD action, (see, e.g. Hong Sang Market, Inc. v. Peng, 20 Cal. App. 5th 474, 229 Cal. Rptr. 3d 99 (1st Dist. 2018)). However, the reasoning in those instances was based on the summary nature of UD actions, and not on a statutory exception to the doctrine of res judicata as advocated by Plaintiff. Plaintiff has not provided any case law supporting the proposition that Cal. Civil C...

Excerpt: ...elow) A. The Complaint Is Deficient for Failure to Include an Indispensible Party. Real Party in Interest Adam Zollinger is the person to whom the Permit was granted. (See RJN Ex. B.) Mr. Zollinger has undertaken the efforts necessary to secure the Permit, which is a property right. (See Beresford Neighborhood Assn. v. City of San Mateo (1989) 207 Cal. App. 3d 1180.) Mr. Zollinger has a substantial stake in the project by virtue of those efforts,...

Excerpt: ...iding interest will be prejudiced if the record is not sealed; (4) the proposed sealing is narrowly tailored; and (5) no less restrictive means exist to achieve the overriding interest. CRC 2.550(d); see McGuan v. Endovascular Technologies, Inc. (2010) 182 CA4th 974. These findings embody constitutional requirements for a request to seal court records, protecting the First Amendment right of public access to civil trials. See NBC Subsidiary (KNBC...

Excerpt: ...d to the Court's jurisdiction pursuant to § 664.6 (the “Settlement Agreement”). Defendants do not dispute the Court's authority to enter judgment pursuant to § 664.6. Instead, Defendants seek an order establishing a payment structure different than the one provided in the Settlement Agreement. However, the Court's authority is limited to entering judgment according to the terms of the Settlement Agreement. See Hernandez v. Board of Educatio...

Excerpt: ...sferred title of the property to Nhan Van Pham (“Pham”), as trustee of the Nhan Van Pham Trust dated October 23, 2017. An action to quiet title may be brought only by one holding an interest in the subject property. (See Chao Fu, Inc. v. Chen (2012) 206 Cal.App.4th 48, 59.) However, an equitable owner may seek to quiet title when the defendant acquired legal title by fraud. (Warren v. Merrill (2006) 143 Cal. App. 4th 96, 114.) The elements of...

Excerpt: ...discovery process,” may be appropriate even without a court order violation in cases involving egregious, intentional spoliation of evidence. See Williams v. Russ (2008) 167 Cal.App.4th 1215, 1223; R.S. Creative, Inc. v. Creative Cotton, Ltd. (1999) 75 Cal.App.4th 486, 497. Based on the evidence submitted to the Court with this motion, the facts here do not suggest the level of intentional, egregious conduct required to justify terminating sanc...

Excerpt: ... Govt. Code Section 900 et seq., which established certain conditions precedent to the filing of a lawsuit against a public entity, or against a public entity employee acting within the scope of his or her employment. Briggs v. Lawrence (1991) 230 Cal.App.3d 605, 612‐13; State v. Superior Court (2004) 32 Cal.4th 1234, 1237. Under the CTCA, Plaintiff was required to file a written claim for money or damages with the County of San Mateo. Govt. Co...

Excerpt: ...ivil Code section 1942.4 and Fourth Cause of Action for Violation of Business and Professions Code section 17200. Thus, Defendants fail to meet their initial burden of showing that there is no triable issue of material fact as to all the causes of action alleged by Plaintiffs Blanca Ramos and Ubaldo Magana (“Plaintiffs”) in the Complaint. (See C.C.P. § 437c(c), (p)(2).) (2) Defendants' Motion for Summary Adjudication to the First Cause of Ac...

Excerpt: ...in, and Christopher Mader, is DENIED. The gist of this action is that Defendants engaged in “overly aggressive” litigation (FAC para. 59) in order to avoid or delay paying the amounts due under the Settlement Agreement. Some of the acts supporting the claims are the filing of a cross‐complaint, four appeals, motion to stay and compel arbitration, motion for sanctions, appeal of an anti‐SLAPP order, and appeal of order granting summary adj...

Excerpt: ... wall inside the premises to create a dwelling unit.” The notice clearly informed Defendants that both (1) erecting a wall, and (2) subletting the premises, were violations of the lease. The notice was not ambiguous, irrespective of the fact that Plaintiff elected to call Defendants' activities a public nuisance. Defendants also contend the notice is defective because it was not served on the purported subtenants, and because the notice did not...

Excerpt: ... Evidence are ruled upon as follows: Obj. Nos. 1‐9. OVERRULED. Obj. No. 10. SUSTAINED. The article speaks for itself. Obj. Nos. 11‐28. OVERRULED. SUMMARY ADJUDICATION OF CAUSES OF ACTION FOR DEFAMATION AND TRADE LIBEL. Plaintiffs motions for summary adjudication on their causes of action for defamation and trade libel are DENIED. A plaintiff has met the burden of showing that they are entitled to judgment on a cause of action if they have pro...

Excerpt: ...ernative motion for summary adjudication of the open book account and account stated claims is GRANTED. Plaintiff is entitled to judgement on these claims of $23,863.82. An open book account is: 1) a detailed statement entered during the regular course of business by the creditor, which constitutes the principal record of one or more transactions between a debtor and creditor arising out of a contract or some fiduciary relations that 2) shows the...

Excerpt: ...30 p.m. The Court reminds all parties that, going forward, Law & Motion matters will be heard at 1:30 p.m. This case arises from a construction/remodel project on a residential property in Hillsborough, Ca. In this motion, the Higgins (homeowners) argue that a Mechanic's Lien recorded on 6‐15‐19 by Plaintiff/contractor Abbott + Avelar Associates, Inc. (“A+A”) should be expunged because A+A did not serve a “Preliminary Notice” on the p...

Excerpt: ...must be brought no later than “60 days after the completion of the record of the deposition.” (Code of Civ. Proc. § 2025.480, subd. (a).) The 60‐day deadline applies not only to oral depositions, but also records‐only subpoenas. (Unzipped Apparel, LLC v. Bader (2007) 156 Cal.App.4th 123, 131.) Respondent argues, citing no authority, that a records‐only deposition is “complete” on the date that the records are to be produced. This i...

Excerpt: ... County's 2‐28‐20 correspondence requesting that the Court vacate Plaintiff's Dismissal and grant Defendant's motion. 2‐ 28‐20 letter, citing While the Court agrees with Defendant that a Plaintiff's right under § 581(c) to voluntarily dismiss a case prior to trial is not absolute, and that this Court has the power to vacate the Dismissal and rule on Defendant's motion under the circumstances, the Court declines to do so here. The Cravens...

Excerpt: ...alifornia. Cione v. Foresters Equity Servs., Inc., 58 Cal. App. 4th 625, 642 (1997). A party may move to compel arbitration pursuant to Code of Civ. Proc. Section 1281.2. Here, there is no disagreement that the dispute arises out of the CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) or that the CBA contains an agreement to arbitrate. Therefore, an agreement to arbitrate the controversy exists, and the Petition to compel arbitration should be granted, unle...

Excerpt: ... Vacate Judgment under C.C.P. section 473(b) is untimely. Defendant seeks relief only under CCP section 473(b) on the ground that default judgment was taken in error against Defendant due to Defendant's mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect. Since judgment was entered in 2009, the motion is untimely under this statute. A motion seeking relief under CCP section 473(b) must be filed within 6 months after entry of default. (See Weil ...

Excerpt: ...case, the dismissal was not entered against plaintiff. However, the declaration of Kenneth Freed states that plaintiff never intended to dismiss the entire action. Plaintiff inadvertently submitted a request for dismissal of the entire action when plaintiff only intended to dismiss the DOE defendants. As a result, it appears the dismissal which was signed by Freed, was entered without plaintiff's consent. For that reason, it should be set aside. ...

Excerpt: ... have been a relatively minor automobile collision that caused about $750 in property damage to Plaintiff's bumper. Although the exact amount is disputed, it appears Plaintiff's claimed medical specials to date are in the area of $9,000. There is a dispute as to liability as between the parties. CCP 403.040(b) states: (b) If a party files a motion for reclassification after the time for that party to amend that party's initial pleading or to ...

Excerpt: ...Plaintiffs fail to allege compliance with the Government Claims Act. The court sustained Defendants' prior demurrer to the First Amended Complaint on this ground, and gave Plaintiffs leave to amend. In the Second Amended Complaint, Plaintiffs still fail to complete paragraph 9 of the Second Amended Complaint by alleging that they complied with the Government Claims Act by filing a claim before bringing this action, or that Plaintiffs are excused ...

Excerpt: ...orth below. As to the Eighth Cause of Action for “Conspiracy to Deny Due Process Rights,” the motion is GRANTED. First, this new cause of action exceeds the scope of the Court's 05‐ 30‐ 18 Order granting leave to amend the Eighth Cause of Action in Plaintiff's Second Amended Complaint, which was entitled “Judicial Declaration Concerning Employment of General Manager Maxey”. The prior claim, which was asserted only against the District...

Excerpt: ... to permit amendment of pleadings. Nestle v. Santa Monica (1972) 6 Cal.3d 920, 939. If discovery and investigation develop factual grounds justifying a timely amendment to a pleading, leave to amend must be liberally granted. Mabie v. Hyatt (1998) 61 Cal.App.4th 581, 596. Indeed, a court may properly grant leave to amend “at any stage of proceedings, up to and including trial.” Atkinson v. Elk Corp (2003) 109 Cal.App.4th 739, 761. Plaintiffs'...

Excerpt: ...circumstances make the imposition of attorney's fees and costs unjust”. . Under the circumstances of this case, the Court is satisfied that Intervenor FRED SLIGHTAM's motion to expunge was brought with substantial justification such that an award of attorney's fees and costs is not warranted. While Intervenor FRED SLIGHTAM's motion to expunge Plaintiffs' lis pendens was ultimately denied (and said denial was upheld on appeal), it appears from t...

Excerpt: ... deny the motion on this ground alone. However, even if the court assumes that service was proper, judgment debtor seeks to vacate renewal of the judgment based on defenses to the original underlying unlawful detainer action. She cites no authority indicating that such defenses would apply in an independent action on the judgment. A motion to vacate a renewal of judgment must go to the renewal itself and not the underlying judgment. If the tentat...