Judge: David B. Gelfound, Case: 24CHCP00291, Date: 2024-09-03 Tentative Ruling

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Case Number: 24CHCP00291    Hearing Date: September 3, 2024    Dept: F49

LOS ANGELES SUPERIOR COURT

NORTH VALLEY DISTRICT

DEPARTMENT F49

PETITION FOR LEAVE TO PRESENT A LATE CLAIM

Motion filed: 7/30/24

MOVING PARTY: Petitioner Andranik Movsisyan

RESPONDING PARTY: None.

NOTICE: NOT OK (lack of proof of service). 

RELIEF REQUESTED: An order granting Petitioner’s Petition for Leave to Present a Late Claim.

TENTATIVE RULING: The motion is DENIED.

BACKGROUND

            Petitioner Andranik Movsisyan (“Petitioner” or “Movsisyan”) petitions for leave to present a late claim against Cheryl Custard (“Custard”) for damages resulting from injuries Petitioner sustained on September 8, 2023, for which Custard is allegedly responsible.

            On July 30, 2024, Petitioner filed the instant Petition for Leave to Present a Late Claim (the “Petition”).

            No Opposition or Reply papers have been received by the Court.

ANALYSIS

Government Code section 911.2(a) states that “a claim relating to a cause of action for death or for injury to person or to personal property . . . shall be presented . . . not later than six months after the accrual of the cause of action.”  If written notice of the board’s action or inaction (which amounts to a rejection) on the claim is tendered pursuant to section 913, the claimant has six months from the time the written notice is personally delivered or deposited in the mail to file suit against the public entity.  (Gov. Code § 945.6(a)(1).)

If a claimant fails to make a claim within six months pursuant to Government Code section 911.2, the claimant may make a written application to the board of the public entity for permission to present a late claim within a reasonable time but not to exceed one year from the accrual of the cause of action.  (Gov. Code § 911.4(a)-(b).)  If, pursuant to the provisions of Government Code section 911.6, the board denies the application to present a late claim, the claimant may petition the Court for relief from the requirements of Government Code section 945.4.  (Gov. Code § 946.6(a).)

Government Code section 946.6(b) requires that the petition to the court must show each of the following: (1) that the late claim application made to the board was denied or deemed denied; (2) the reason for failure to present the claim within six months of the accrual of the cause of action; and (3) the contents of the claim as required by Government Code section 910.  The petition must be filed within six months after the application to present a late claim to the board was denied or deemed to be denied.  (Ibid.) 

The Petitioner bears the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that the late-claim application was made within a reasonable time and that one of the statutory requirements under Government Code section 946.6(c) was met.  (Drummond v. County of Fresno (1987) 193 Cal.App.3d 1406, 1410.)  Under section 946.4(e), the trial court must make its determination upon the petition, “relying upon any affidavits in support of, or in opposition to, the petition and any additional evidence received at hearing on the petition.”  (Ebersol v. Cowan (1983) 35 Cal.3d 427, 431.)

“A copy of the petition and a written notice of the time and place of hearing shall be served before the hearing as prescribed by subdivision (b) of Section 1005 of the Code of Civil Procedure on (1) the clerk or secretary or board of the local public entity, if the respondent is a local public entity[...]” (Gov. Code ¶ 946.6(d).)

A.    Accrual of Petitioner’s Cause of Action

“As a general rule, a statute of limitations accrues when the act occurs which gives rise to the claim . . . that is, when ‘the plaintiff sustains actual and appreciable harm.’  Any ‘manifest and palpable’ injury will commence the statutory period.”  (Costa Serena Owners Coalition v. Costa Serena Architectural Committee (2009) 175 Cal.App.4th 1175, 1195-96.) 

Here, Petitioner’s cause of action accrued on September 8, 2023, when Petitioner sustained “the loss” (Pet. at p. 1) and Custard provided her personal auto insurance to Petitioner. (Ibid.)

B.     Timeliness of Petitioner’s Claim and Late-Claim Application

Government Code section 911.2(a) states that “a claim relating to a cause of action for death or for injury to person or to personal property . . . shall be presented . . . not later than six months after the accrual of the cause of action.”  If a claimant fails to make a claim within six months pursuant to Gov. Code § 911.2, the claimant may make a written application to the board of the public entity for permission to present a late claim within a reasonable time but not to exceed one year from the accrual of the cause of action.  (Gov. Code § 911.4(a)-(b).)

            Here, Petitioner states that he initially filed the Government Claim with the County of Los Angeles’s Board of Supervisors on March 5, 2024; however, despite his compliance with all mailing and procedural requirements, the Board of Supervisors claimed that they did not receive the initial claim form. (Pet. at p. 2.)

            Subsequently, on April 3, 2024, Petitioner resubmitted the claim to the Board of Supervisors. (Pet. at p. 2), which was “received and uploaded ... and was transferred to Carl Warren and Company Claims Management and Solutions,” who denied the claim on the basis that it was not presented within six months after the loss. (Ibid.)

            Based on the information presented in the Petitioner before the Court, it finds that Petitioner’s Government Claim, sent on April 3, 2024, exceeded the six-month time limit from the accrual of the cause of action on September 8, 2023, thereby failing to meet the filing requirement under Government Code section 911.2.

            The Court further notes that Petitioner’s mailing on April 3, 2024, besides being untimely, was a resubmission of his initial claim, rather than “a written application ... made to the public entity for leave to present that claim.” (Gov. Code § 911.4 (a).) Consequently, while Petitioner’s claim was rejected by the Board of Supervisors on the grounds of late filing, the rejection does not pertain to an application for leave to present the claim (Gov. Code § 911.6(a)), as no such application has been submitted by Petitioner according to the information presented in this Petition.

            Therefore, the Court finds that the relief Petitioner seeks under Government Code section 946.6 (Pet. at p. 2) is inapplicable because Government Code section 946.6 applies only when “an application for leave to present a claim is denied or deemed to be denied pursuant to Section 911.6[.]” (Gov. Code § 946.6(a).)

            Furthermore, Petitioner has not submitted a Proof of Service, demonstrating proper notice was given to the Respondent County of Los Angeles, as mandated by Government Code section 946.6(d).

            Accordingly, the Court DENIES the Petition.

CONCLUSION

Petitioner Andranik Movsisyan’s Petition for Leave to Present a Late Claim is DENIED.

Petitioner to give notice.