Superior Court of California 

County of Los Angeles – West District  

Beverly Hills Courthouse / Department 205 

 

 

BACKGROUND 

 

This is an unlawful detainer action.  Defendant Tatia Calhoun defaulted on her rent and failed to vacate the premises at 26303 W. Bravo Lane, Calabasas, California 91302 (the "Premises").  Plaintiff Yosi Shaya owns the Premises and filed suit. 

Defendant failed to respond to Plaintiff's discovery requests, including requests for admissions (“RFAs”).  The Court granted Plaintiff's motion to deem admitted the facts set forth in her RFAs.  Plaintiff then moved for summary judgment based on the admissions, which this Court granted. 

On August 16, 2024, this Court entered judgment in favor of Plaintiff and against Defendant for possession of the premises, forfeiture of the rental agreement, past-due rent in the amount of $18,000 and holdover damages in the amount of $12,600, for a total amount of $30,600.   

Plaintiff now seeks to amend the Judgment to include additional holdover damages from August 17, 2024 to December 4, 2024 (when Defendant vacated the Premises) in the amount of $13,200 as well as damages for loss of rent for the time Plaintiff was unable to re-rent the premises due to damages caused by Defendant.  There was no opposition filed as of the posting of this tentative ruling.     

DISCUSSION     

Under Code of Civil Procedure section 187, the Court has inherent equitable authority to amend judgments to achieve justice.  Section 187 states:  “When jurisdiction is, by the Constitution or this Code, or by any other statute, conferred on a Court or judicial officer, all the means necessary to carry it into effect are also given; and in the exercise of this jurisdiction, if the course of proceeding be not specifically pointed out by this Code or the statute, any suitable process or mode of proceeding may be adopted which may appear most conformable to the spirit of this Code.”   

However, Plaintiff has not pointed the Court to any authority showing that the Court can amend a judgment pursuant to section 187 to add damages incurred after the judgment was issued.  Generally, the cases allowing for amendments under section 187 involve the addition of defendants who are deemed to be the alter egos of the judgment debtor.  The cases Plaintiff cites go to the issue of whether holdover damages or costs of repair are recoverable by the landlord.  They do not support the idea that the Court can amend a judgment to increase the amount of damages awarded to Plaintiff. 

The other section cited by Plaintiff, Code of Civil Procedure 473, also does not support an amendment of the judgment.  Section 473 states in pertinent part: “The court may, upon motion of the injured party, or its own motion, correct clerical mistakes in its judgment or orders as entered, so as to conform to the judgment or order directed, and may . . . set aside any void judgment or order.” In other words, a court has the inherent power to correct clerical error in its judgment so that the judgment will reflect the true facts. ( In re Candelario (1970) 3 Cal.3d 702, 705.)   

A clerical error in the judgment includes inadvertent errors made by the court “which cannot reasonably be attributed to the exercise of judicial consideration or discretion.” ( Bowden v. Green (1982) 128 Cal.App.3d 65, 71, citing Estate of Goldberg (1938) 10 Cal.2d 709, 715; Pettigrew v. Grand Rent-A-Car (1984) 154 Cal.App.3d 204, 209-210.)  Any attempt by a court, under the guise of correcting clerical error, to ‘revise its deliberately exercised judicial discretion’ is not permitted. [Citation.]” ( In re Candelario, supra, 3 Cal.3d at 705.)  

Here, the amounts reflected in the Judgment were not a clerical error.  They were the amounts requested by Plaintiff.  Accordingly, section 473 does not provide a basis to amend the Judgment. 

CONCLUSION 

For the foregoing reasons, the Court DENIES Plaintiff’s motion to amend judgment. 

IT IS SO ORDERED. 

 

DATED: May 30, 2025 ___________________________ 

Edward B. Moreton, Jr. 

Judge of the Superior Court