Judge: Elaine W. Mandel, Case: 23SMCV01170, Date: 2024-11-07 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 23SMCV01170    Hearing Date: November 7, 2024    Dept: P

Tentative Ruling

Kamson v. Breathless Group LLC, Case no. 23SMCV01170

Hearing date November 7, 2024

Defendants’ Motions to Vacate Default Judgments

Plaintiff Kamson sued defendants Breathless Group LLC, Hagopian, Weinerman, Ho and Dozer for breach of contract and fraud arising out of a loan. Default was entered against Dozier 7/13/23 and Hagopian on 10/3/23; they move to set aside the defaults per Code Civ. Proc. §473.

Plaintiff’s request for judicial notice of the two defaults is GRANTED, as they are court records.

Per Code Civ. Proc. §473(b), the court may set aside a dismissal taken against a party through “mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect.” Relief under §473 should be liberally granted because public policy favors resolution of disputes on the merits, rather than through technical default. E.g., Fasuvi v. Permatex, Inc. (2008) 167 Cal.App.4th 681, 685.

Motions to set aside are to be filed 6 months of entry of default. Defendants Dozier and Hagopian filed their motions 9/16/24, 9 and 5 months past the deadline, respectively. Plaintiff argues defendants fail to provide and facts demonstrating mistake, fraud or inadvertence, as required by Code Civ. Proc. §473(b).

Defendants simply assert “defendant’s default was through excusable neglect in not responding to plaintiff's complaint.” Hagopian Motion 7:4-5, Dozier Motion 7:4-5. This is insufficient to establish excusable neglect. Defendants fall outside the time limits of Cal. Code Civ. Proc. §473(b) and fail to provide evidence or specific facts demonstrating excusable neglect. DENIED.