Superior Court of California 

County of Los Angeles – West District  

Beverly Hills Courthouse / Department 205 

 

 

BACKGROUND 

This case arises from a breach of a lease agreement.  Plaintiff Douglas Emmett 1995, LLC entered into a lease agreement with Defendant Brent Briggs, Inc. (“Tenant”) for Suite 550 of the building located at 12400 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, 90025 (the “Premises”).  Defendant Brett Briggs (“Guarantor”) guaranteed Tenant’s obligations under the Lease.  Tenant failed to pay rent and surrendered the Premises.   

This action ensued.  Plaintiff sued Tenant for breach of the lease, and Guarantor for breach of the guaranty.   

This hearing on Plaintiff’s motions for orders authorizing service via publication of Guarantor and service on Secretary of State for Tenant.  Plaintiff claims it has been unable to serve Defendants after eleven service attempts, consisting of six attempts to serve Tenant plus five other attempts to serve Guarantor.  Plaintiff also asked Defendants’ attorney to accept service, but the attorney expressly refused to accept service for his clients. 

      

SERVICE VIA PUBLICATION 

Under Code Civ. Proc. § 415.50, a summons may be served by publication if upon affidavit it appears to the satisfaction of the Court that: (1) the party to be served cannot with reasonable diligence be served in another manner; and (2) a cause of action exists against the party upon whom service is to be made or the party to be served has an interest in property that is subject to the jurisdiction of the court or the relief demanded in the action would exclude the party from any interest in the property.  Strict compliance is required to obtain leave to serve by publication. (County of Riverside v. Superior Court (1997) 54 Cal.App.4th 443, 450.)  Further, constitutional principles of due process of law require that service by publication be used only as a last resort. (Watts v. Crawford (1995) 10 Cal.4th 743, 749 fn. 5.) 

The term “reasonable diligence” denotes a thorough, systematic investigation and inquiry conducted in good faith by the party or his agent or attorney. (Id.) The basic test is whether the affidavit demonstrates that the plaintiff took those steps which a reasonable person who truly desired to give notice would have taken under the circumstances. (Donel, Inc. v. Badalian (1978) 87 Cal. App. 3d 327, 333.) This involves a number of honest attempts to learn defendant’s whereabouts or address by inquiry of relatives, by investigation of appropriate city and telephone directories, voter registries, and assessor’s office property indices situated near the defendant's last known location. (Watts, 10 Cal.4th at 749 fn. 5.) These are the likely sources of information, and consequently must be searched before resorting to service by publication. (Id.)  Before allowing a plaintiff to resort to service by publication, the Courts necessarily require the plaintiff to show exhaustive attempts to locate the defendant, for it is generally recognized that service by publication rarely results in actual notice. (Id.) 

“Diligence is a relative term and must be determined by the circumstances of each case. The question is one for the trial court in the first instance.” (Vorburg v. Vorburg (1941) 18 Cal.2d 794, 797.) “If the facts set forth in the affidavit have a legal tendency to show the exercise of diligence on behalf of the plaintiff in seeking to find the defendant within the state, and that after the exercise of such diligence [she or] he cannot be found, the decision of the judge that the affidavit shows the same to his satisfaction is to be regarded with the same effect as is [her or] his decision upon any other matter of fact submitted to [her or] his judicial determination.” (Id.) 

Here, Plaintiff has shown it attempted service on Guarantor five times at his home.  Guarantor also continues to list the Premises as the address of his business, and accordingly, Plaintiff could not serve him at another address.  Plaintiff also asked Guarantor’s attorney to accept service, but he refused.  On these facts, the Court authorizes Plaintiff to serve Guarantor by publication through the Los Angeles Times, a newspaper of general publication in Los Angeles County, which is most likely to give Guarantor notice of this action.   

SERVICE ON SECRETARY OF STATE 

“If an agent for the purpose of service of process . . . cannot with reasonable diligence be found at the address designated for personally delivering the process, or if no agent has been designated, and it is shown by affidavit to the satisfaction of the court that process against a domestic corporation cannot be served with reasonable diligence upon the designated agent by hand . . . the court may make an order that the service be made upon the corporation by delivering by hand to the Secretary of State.” (Corp. Code, § 1702(a).) 

In this case, Plaintiff attempted service on Guarantor, Tenant’s sole officer and registered agent for service of process.  Plaintiff made eleven attempts at Guarantor’s residence, all to no avail.  Thus, Plaintiff has demonstrated that Defendant “cannot be served with reasonable diligence upon the designated agent by hand.” (See Corp. Code, § 1702(a).)  Accordingly, the Court authorizes Plaintiff to serve Tenant by delivery to the Secretary of State. (Id.) 

CONCLUSION 

For the foregoing reasons, the Court GRANTS Plaintiff’s motions for service on Brett Briggs by publication and service on Brett Briggs, Inc. via Secretary of State.   

IT IS SO ORDERED. 

 

DATED: January 17, 2025 ___________________________ 

Edward B. Moreton, Jr. 

Judge of the Superior Court