Excerpt: ...to all three causes of action on the following grounds: plaintiff did not sufficiently allege the terms of the subject contract and did not attach a copy of the purchase agreement to the complaint, therefore the breach of implied warranty and express warranty causes of action are fatally defective; the fraud cause of action fails in that plaintiff did not allege he purchased the vehicle directly from defendant General Motors, LLC, or that he view...

Excerpt: ...e the portion of the 1st amended complaint wherein plaintiffs allege: “Defendants' acts and omissions, as described above, were oppressive, fraudulent, and/or malicious and plaintiffs are therefore entitled to an award of punitive damages in amounts to be proven at trial.” After hearing oral argument by the parties at the hearing on the anti‐SLAPP notion on August 28, 2020, the court took the matter under submission. On September 1, 2020, t...

Excerpt: ... brokering residential mortgage loans, placed mortgage loans with plaintiff as the lender. (FAC, ¶¶5‐6.) On one occasion, in March 2018, defendants contacted plaintiff with an opportunity for plaintiff to lend money at the annual rate of 16%, to be paid in advance at close of escrow. The note would be secured by deed of trust on a residential property in Santa Monica, California. Plaintiff agreed to loan the funds on these terms, and deposite...

Excerpt: ...dgment. The history and allegations of this dispute were recounted in detail in the Court's prior demurrer ruling and need not be repeated here. And indeed, the legal arguments raised here were largely disposed of in the prior ruling, and need not be repeated in full detail. The SAC at most adds a few bells and whistles to plaintiff's fatally defective theories. But they do not save the theories from their defects. First Cause of Action: Taxpayer...

Excerpt: ...efendant also states that inasmuch as plaintiff has agreed in meet and confer efforts that the claim for attorney fees be stricken, the court should direct that any amendment of the complaint should eliminate plaintiff's claim for attorney fees. Plaintiff opposes the demurrer on the following grounds: Section 7159 does not apply to the alleged contact as it is a new home construction contract; and the 2nd cause of action is not uncertain. Defenda...

Excerpt: ...iff County's attorney represented that all documents had been emailed to defendant. Defendant stated that he had already been arrested and saw no need for an injunction. The court granted the ex parte application and set the hearing on the OSC Re: Preliminary Injunction for 8:30 a.m. on Friday, October 16, 2020 in Department Nine. The court further issued an OSC directing defendant to show cause why he should not enjoined and restrained from comm...

Excerpt: ...o quash or modify document request numbers 1–3 served on Broadstone Land, LLC (“Broadstone” or “landlord”), which is the landlord for FWB Palladio. On August 14, 2020, plaintiff served a business record subpoena on Broadstone. (Ibid.) Defendant's landlord is not a party in this action and has no connection to defendant FWB. (Id., ¶ 4.) The subpoena seeks FWB Palladio's application to lease property; any documents Broadstone reviewed in...

Excerpt: ...17.1. Defendants request sanctions in the amount of $3,177.50. Defendants' Objection to Joint Responses As an initial matter, defendants object to plaintiffs' discovery responses on the basis that they served improper joint responses. Specifically, a set of discovery requests were separately served to Randy Baugh and Corbie Baugh, although the content of each set was identical. (Declaration of Benjamin Tagert in Support of Motion, ¶ 5 & Exs. A, ...

Excerpt: ...nuary 10, 2020 the court denied plaintiff's motion to reconsider that ruling. On January 24, 2020 plaintiff filed a 2nd amended complaint against defendants, including defendant MERS, asserting the following causes of action: cancellation of the MERS assignment of the deed of trust as MERS is not registered as a foreign corporation; cancellation of the assignment of the deed of trust, because MERS lacked standing or legal authority to assign the ...

Excerpt: ...y's fees based on actual time expended pursuant to Civil Code § 1794(d) as stipulated by the parties or, if the parties cannot agree, upon motion to the court having jurisdiction over this action.” Civil Code § 1794 provides in part: “If the buyer prevails in an action under this section, the buyer shall be allowed by the court to recover as part of the judgment a sum equal to the aggregate amount of costs and expenses, including attorney's...

Excerpt: ...ach of fiduciary duty, and (11) violations of Civil Codes. Pending is Wells Fargo's demurrer to the complaint. Standard of Review A demurrer is directed at the face of the complaint and to matters subject to judicial notice. (Code of Civ. Proc. § 430.30, subd. (a).) “It is not the ordinary function of a demurrer to test the truth of the plaintiff's allegations or the accuracy with which he describes the defendant's conduct. A demurrer tests on...

Excerpt: ...y Martin's demurrer to the second cause of action for fraud. Defendant Martin demurs to the fraud cause of action on the following grounds: Martin was acting solely in his capacity as CEO of defendant Lifeprint Products, Inc., and the Consulting Agreement is clear as to the identity of the contracting parties; the alleged misrepresentations do not concern past or existing facts, but rather are opinions or speculation as to future events; the FAC ...

Excerpt: ...r to subject a defendant to a judgment in personam, if he be not present within the territory of the forum, he have certain minimum contacts with it such that the maintenance of the suit does not offend ‘traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice.' [Citations.]” (Int'l Shoe Co. v. Washington (1945) 326 U.S. 310, 316.) Personal jurisdiction may be founded on either general jurisdiction or specific jurisdiction. (Rano v. Sipa Pres...

Excerpt: ...dure §§ 435– 437. The motion is made on the basis that the complaint is improper and violates the provisions of Civil Code § 47(b) regarding privileged publications or broadcast in a judicial proceeding. A motion to strike is generally used to address defects appearing on the face of a pleading that are not subject to demurrer. (Pierson v. Sharp Mem. Hosp. (1989) 216 Cal.App.3d 340, 342.) Relevant here, a complaint that alleges facts amounti...

Excerpt: ...tively. The Court Clerk entered defaults against them both on July 31, 2020 as requested by plaintiffs. Twenty days after entry of the defaults, the County of El Dorado filed a motion to set aside the defaults on the following grounds: the defaults are void as they were taken against departments of the County that do not individually have any capacity to sue or be sued; plaintiffs failed to properly serve a copy of the summons and complaint on th...

Excerpt: ...laim with the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA), the claim is attached as Exhibit 1, plaintiff paid the filing fee to the LWDA, and mailed notice to defendant by certified mail, return receipt requested. Plaintiff further alleges in paragraph 3 of the Complaint that defendant executed the return receipt, it is attached as Exhibit 2, and plaintiff did not receive any indication from the LWDA that it intended to investigate t...

Excerpt: ...ounds: the breach of contract cause of action states it is against Tiffany Schneider (See Cross‐Complaint, page 5, line 2, Designation of Breach of Contract Cause of Action as being Against Tiffany Schneider and Roes 1‐ 10.) and then alleges the conduct that breached the contract was due to Tiana Schneider's refusal to pay invoices for cross‐complainant's design services in full in accordance with the agreement; there are no specific allega...

Excerpt: ...ued due to the public health crisis and was finally advanced and set to commence on May 29, 2020. The March 19, April 9, and April 22, 2020 ex parte minute orders continuing the hearing were emailed to the parties. The ex parte minute orders state that the address to which the minute orders were emailed to defense counsel was [email protected]. The hearing on the petition commenced on May 29, 2020. Defendant did not appear. Testimony was pr...

Excerpt: ...e, shoulder, and hip. Physical therapy is ongoing for knee, hip, and back. PTSD may require additional/ongoing treatment.” (Decl. of David Streza in Support of Defendants' Motion, Ex. A, p. 2, item no. 6.7.) In addition, plaintiff is asserting a claim for loss of income and earning capacity in the amount of $480,000. (Id., item no. 8.8.) On June 10, 2020, defendants served plaintiff via electronic service with a Second Amended Notice of Taking ...

Excerpt: ...laint, defendant Luhrs instead filed a separate action against plaintiff Crawford on April 10, 2020. (Luhrs v. Crawford, Case Number PC‐ 20200192.) On July 20, 2020 defendant Luhrs filed a motion for leave to file a compulsory crosscomplaint in this action. Defendant argues that while there has been delay seeking relief to file the cross‐complaint, she has acted in good faith. Defendant also states she will voluntarily dismiss case number PC ...

Excerpt: ...on already asserted in the initial complaint. Defendant opposes the motion on the following grounds: the proposed 1st amended complaint fails to allege sufficient facts to state any cause of action against Gary Ross; the plaintiff only alleges that Mr. Ross is the spouse of Marilyn Ross, who is named as a defendant in this action; the proposal to add Gary Ross as a defendant is merely retaliatory in nature, because plaintiff's husband is a named ...

Excerpt: ...pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure, § 664.6; and agreed that the matter may be dismissed pursuant to Section 664.6. It appears that the individual parties executed the agreement. On August 5, 2020 the court dismissed the action upon request of the plaintiff and upon request of the parties retained jurisdiction pursuant to the provisions of Code of Civil Procedure, § 664.6 to enforce the stipulation for conditional entry of dismissal. The settl...

Excerpt: ... Special Interrogatories (Set One), and (3) Request for Production of Documents (Set One), on each plaintiff by U.S. Mail via their shared attorney. Their responses were due by December 19, 2019. None of the plaintiffs served verified responses on defendant. When no responses were received, defendant's counsel sent a meet and confer letter (dated Dec. 27, 2019) to plaintiffs' counsel. Thereafter, on February 14, 2020, defendant filed separate mot...

Excerpt: ...monetary sanctions in the amount of $8,990.00. In opposition, plaintiff asserts that because he has now provided further responses addressing the alleged defects set forth in defendants' motion and has provided verifications, defendants' motion is now moot. The court disagrees. Even if plaintiff has now served code‐compliant verified responses to defendants' discovery requests, such action does not preclude the court from considering defendants...

Excerpt: ... the alternative, summary adjudication of each of the three causes of action. Cross‐Complainants argue they are entitled to entry of summary judgment or summary adjudication on the following grounds: cross‐complainants are entitled to entry of declaratory relief, because it has been established as matter of law by the evidence presented that the subject grant deed is void, the clear and unambiguous provisions of the fully integrated option ag...

Excerpt: ...effect as a general demurrer. (Smiley v. Citibank (1995) 11 Cal.4th 138, 146.) If the moving party is a plaintiff, the motion raises the legal issue of whether “the complaint states facts sufficient to constitute a cause or causes of action against the defendant and the answer does not state facts sufficient to constitute a defense to the complaint.” (Code of Civ. Proc. § 438, subd. (c)(1)(A).) Here, defendant's answer does not state facts s...

Excerpt: ... cause, physical and emotional injury. Plaintiff complained about the bedbugs to defendants' managers and agents, but they failed to abate the infestation. Plaintiff's complaint asserts causes of action for (1) breach of implied warranty of habitability, (2) battery, (3) negligence—premises liability/failure to warn, (4) nuisance, (5) intentional infliction of emotional distress, (6) negligent infliction of emotional distress, (7) breach of con...

Excerpt: ...e parties in this action for equal shareholder interests in the subject corporation, the contract continues to the present day, and the action against defendant is not time‐barred. Plaintiffs filed an ex parte motion to appoint a receiver and for injunctive relief. The court set a noticed hearing date, rather that ruling on the matter ex parte. After being exhaustively briefed, hearing oral argument on January 31, 2020, and counsel for defendan...

Excerpt: ...y Properties, LLC; and (2) plaintiff Brad Jacobson's motion to submit tardy expert witness information pursuant to CCP § 2034.710. By way of background, plaintiff commenced this action on April 22, 2018. The initial trial date was set for June 22, 2020. On April 13, 2020, plaintiff's counsel served a demand for expert witness disclosure. (Defs. Exhibits in Support of Motion, Ex. A.) Plaintiff's demand indicated the date of the exchange was May 1...

Excerpt: ... a judicially supervised settlement under Section 664.6. The action against Gregory Schaefer was voluntarily dismissed with prejudice upon plaintiff's request on May 21, 2020. The request for dismissal did not include a statement that the court retained jurisdiction to enforce the settlement. Plaintiff seeks to vacate or modify the dismissal on the ground that due to mistake, inadvertence, or excusable neglect plaintiff's counsel failed to includ...

Excerpt: ...s entered against defendant in the amount of $21,719.37. Defendant moves to vacate and set aside the default pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure, § 1788.61(a)(1) on the ground that he was never properly served with the summons and complaint. The proof of service in the court's file declares that notice of the hearing and a copy of the moving papers were served on plaintiff's counsel by mail on July 7, 2020. Plaintiff opposes the motion on the fo...

Excerpt: ...public property cause of action of the cross‐complaint without leave to amend, and sustained the demurrer to the breach of contract cause of action of the cross‐complaint with ten days leave to amend. The 1st amended cross‐complaint was filed. Cross‐Defendant People demurred to the 1st amended cross‐complaint. The demurrer was dropped upon request of the People after the 2nd Amended Cross‐Complaint was filed on January 29, 2020. The P...

Excerpt: ... like this case, “the superior court in the county where the defendants or some of them reside at the commencement of the action is the proper court for the trial of the action.” (Code of Civ. Proc. § 395 subd. (a); see also Cholakian & Assocs. v. Super. Ct. (2015) 236 Cal.App.4th 361, 367–368.) As all the defendants reside in Placer County, the proper court for this action is the Placer County Superior Court. Defendants also request sanct...

Excerpt: ...� 1983; (2) violation of the privileges and immunities clause (Cal. Const., art. I, § 7); (3) writ of mandate (Code of Civ. Proc. (“CCP” § 1085); (4) declaratory relief (Gov't Code § 11350(a), CCP § 1060); (5) injunctive relief; (6) conversion; (7) writ of administrative mandamus (CCP § 1094.5); (8) damages (CCP § 1095, 42 U.S.C. § 1983). Pending is the City's demurrer to the AXC and motion to strike portions of the AXC. 1. STANDARD OF...

Excerpt: ...evailing on the contract shall be the party who recovered a greater relief in the action on the contract.” (Civ. Code § 1717, subd. (b).) Where the judgment is a “simple, unqualified win” on the contract claim, a trial court has no discretion to deny an attorney fee award to that prevailing party under Civil Code § 1717. (Hsu v. Abbara (1995) 9 Cal.4th 863, 876.) While the fee awards should be fully compensatory, the trial court's role is...

Excerpt: .... Cross‐ Complainant Legacy Family Adventures – Rocklin (Legacy) file a cross‐complaint against the City of Rockling (City), Bonsai Design, LLC (Bonsai), and Adventure Operations, LLC (Adventure Operations) asserting various causes of action. Cross‐Defendants Bonsai and Adventure Operations demur to all causes of action pled against them. Cross‐Complainant Legacy opposes the demurrers. Cross‐Defendants replied to the opposition. Demur...

Excerpt: ...ivil Procedure, § 877.6 that the settlement is in good faith. The proof of service filed with the court declares that the parties were emailed notice of the hearing and copies of the moving papers on June 24, 2020. The motion is not opposed. Any party to an action in which it is alleged that two or more parties are joint tortfeasors is entitled to a court hearing on the issue of the good faith of a settlement between the plaintiff and one or mor...

Excerpt: ...fendant Marshall Medical Center did not breach the standard of care regarding plaintiff and defendant Marshall Medical Center did not cause plaintiff's alleged injuries for which he seeks damages. On July 6, 2020 plaintiff filed a statement of non‐opposition to the motion. Motion for Summary Judgment Principles “For purposes of motions for summary judgment and summary adjudication: ¶ * * * (2) A defendant or cross‐defendant has met his or ...

Excerpt: ...ued due to the public health crisis and was finally advanced and set to commence on May 29, 2020. The March 19, April 9, and April 22, 2020 ex parte minute orders continuing the hearing were emailed to the parties. The ex parte minute orders state that the address to which the minute orders were emailed to defense counsel was [email protected]. The hearing on the petition commenced on May 29, 2020. Defendant did not appear. Testimony was pr...

Excerpt: ...was not feasible to focus on preserving the oak woodland within the Highway 50 corridor. In the 137 page tentative ruling incorporated as Exhibit 1 of the judgment and order the court specifically rejected all grounds raised by the petitioner in its challenge to the EIR, except as to the portion of the FEIR/EIR related to the determination of where to focus mitigation of loss of oak woodlands – whether to focus on Highway 50 corridor land to ma...

Excerpt: ...tion, [defendant] offers to pay reasonable costs, expenses and attorney's fees based on actual time expended pursuant to Civil Code § 1794(d) as stipulated by the parties or, if the parties cannot agree, upon motion to the court having jurisdiction over this action. [¶] Except as set forth herein, above, each party shall bear its own attorneys' fees and costs of suit. Plaintiff may accept the above offer by signing the following statement that ...

Excerpt: ...Charlene Bosso's Further Responses to Special Interrogatories, Set One. Plaintiffs move to compel defendant Charlene Bosso to provide further responses to special interrogatories, set one, numbers 35‐41 on the grounds that the objections that the special interrogatories are vague, ambiguous, or unintelligible, they call for legal conclusions, the special interrogatories call for an expert opinion, and that the special interrogatories seek infor...

Excerpt: ...rted of 32 affirmative defenses. On May 28, 2020 plaintiffs filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings on defendants Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp.'s, JP Morgan Chase Bank's, and MTC Financial, Inc.'s answer. Plaintiffs contend that judgment on the pleadings on the entire answer and each and every affirmative defense should be granted because the 32 boilerplate affirmative defenses fail to allege sufficient facts to establish such affirmative...

Excerpt: ...the court denied plaintiff's motion to reconsider that ruling. On January 24, 2020 plaintiff filed a 2nd amended complaint against defendants, including defendant MERS, asserting the following causes of action: cancellation of the MERS assignment of the deed of trust as MERS is not registered as a foreign corporation; cancellation of the assignment of the deed of trust, because MERS lacked standing or legal authority to assign the subject deed of...

Excerpt: ... defendant and accepted. Defendant contends: the Code of Civil Procedure, § 998 offer to compromise provides that no judgment shall be entered; the plaintiffs are seeking entry of judgment along with the petition to authorize the minor's compromise; the petition states that the minor suffered anxiety and depression, which was not alleged in the complaint; the petition falsely states that defendant Wentzel witnessed the incident, which was not al...

Excerpt: ...plaintiff in the amount of $60,000; defendant Mack executed a continuing guaranty of the loan; that there remains, due, owing and unpaid a principal balance in the amount of $30,534.15; and defendant Mack failed to cure defendant Senworth, Inc.'s default on the contract. On March 5 2020 the court dismissed the account stated and money lent causes of action upon plaintiff's request, leaving the breach of contract cause of action pending. Plaintiff...

Excerpt: ...lan for the association's future financial needs; breach of fiduciary duty by failure to conduct a reserve study, failure to fund reserves, selective enforcement of the C,C,&Rs, and failure to fund the reserves; violation of Civil Code, § 5100 by conducting elections without properly sending ballots, failure to properly retain inspectors of elections, and tainting the entire voting process; violation of Civil Code, § 5200 by failing and refusin...

Excerpt: ...aintiff Cain. Defendant Cheryl Mendonsa responded on July 16, 2018 by filing an answer and a crosscomplaint against plaintiff Cain for rescission of the agreement due to allegations asserting that defendant mistakenly executed the document, defendant was unduly influenced, and defendant Cheryl Mendonsa was the victim of financial elder abuse. The plaintiff's demurrers to the cross‐complaint and 1st amended cross‐complaint were sustained. The ...

Excerpt: ...isleading reports and statements, as well as recovery for unfair business practices that injured the membership of the club by allegedly suppressing non‐confidential financial information and defendants receiving ill‐gotten gains that rightfully belong to the club membership. Defendants move for an order requiring plaintiffs to post a bond n the amount of $50,000 in order for them to continue to pursue the derivative actions. Defendants argue...

Excerpt: ... Request for Production of Documents (Set One) on both plaintiffs by certified mail. No responses were received by the deadline. Thereafter, defendants filed a motion to compel plaintiffs' responses to the discovery requests. Plaintiffs did not serve any responses prior to the hearing on the motion, they did not oppose the motion, and they did not appear at the hearing on March 20, 2020. The court granted defendants' motion to compel responses an...