Judge: Gregory Keosian, Case: 22STCV31853, Date: 2023-10-04 Tentative Ruling
Case Number: 22STCV31853 Hearing Date: October 12, 2023 Dept: 61
Defendants S. Ca. Construction Consultants, Inc., Larry S.
Litburg, and Deborah A. Litberg’s Motion to Vacate Default and Default Judgment
is GRANTED.
I.
MOTION TO VACATE DEFAULT
The court may, upon any terms as may be
just, relieve a party or his or her legal representative from a judgment,
dismissal, order, or other proceeding taken against him or her through his or
her mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect. Application for this
relief shall be accompanied by a copy of the answer or other pleading proposed
to be filed therein, otherwise the application shall not be granted, and shall
be made within a reasonable time, in no case exceeding six months, after the
judgment, dismissal, order, or proceeding was taken.
(Code Civ. Proc. §
473, subd. (b).)
Defendants S. Ca. Construction Consultants, Inc., Larry S.
Litburg, and Deborah A. Litberg (Defendants) move for relief from default and
default judgment on the grounds that they did not receive advance notice of
Plaintiff’s intent to have default entered against them, or of these
proceedings, by virtue of their change of location to Oregon in 2019. (Deborah
Litberg Decl. ¶¶ 5, 7–9; Larry Litberg Decl. ¶¶ 10–12.) Defendants also contend
that the default judgment of $84,534.25 includes $55,925.00 in excess of the
prayer for damages in the Complaint, and further seeks attorney fees in excess
of the reasonable fees prescribed for
default judgment by LASC Local Rule 3.214. (Motion at pp. 8–9.)
Defendants have shown entitlement to the relief sought. The
motion was filed August 7, 2023, within three months of the default judgment
and six months of the entry of default. They have provided declarations stating
that they lacked awareness of the lawsuit and the entry of default that
Plaintiff filed against them. Plaintiff
has filed no opposition to this motion.
The motion is therefore GRANTED.