Judge Holly J. Fujie, Case Number: 24STCV09244, Date: 2024-10-02 Tentative Ruling

On April 12, 2024, Plaintiff American Textile Company (“Plaintiff”) filed a Complaint for unlawful detainer against Defendant Downtown Natural Caregivers, Inc. based on alleged failure to pay rent. On August 13, 2024, Plaintiff filed a First Amended Complaint for breach of contract.

On August 16, 2024, Plaintiff filed the instant Motion for Leave to File Second Amended Complaint (the “Motion”). The Motion is unopposed.

CCP §473(a)(1) states: “The court may, in furtherance of justice, and on any terms as may be proper, allow a party to amend any pleading or proceeding by adding or striking out the name of any party, or by correcting a mistake in the name of a party, or a mistake in any other respect; and may, upon like terms, enlarge the time for answer or demurrer. The court may likewise, in its discretion, after notice to the adverse party, allow, upon any terms as may be just, an amendment to any pleading or proceeding in other particulars; and may upon like terms allow an answer to be made after the time limited by this code.”

Judicial policy favors resolution of all disputed matters between the parties and, therefore, the courts have held that “there is a strong policy in favor of liberal allowance of amendments.” (Mesler v. Bragg Management Co. (1985) 39 Cal.3d 290, 296-97; see also, Ventura v. ABM Industries, Inc. (2013) 212 Cal.App.4th 258, 268) [“Trial courts are bound to apply a policy of great liberality in permitting amendments to the complaint at any stage of the proceedings, up to and including trial where the adverse party will not be prejudiced.”].)

Pursuant to CRC 3.1324(a), a motion to amend must: (1) include a copy of the proposed amendment or amended pleading, which must be serially numbered; and (2) state what allegations are proposed to be deleted from or added to the previous pleading and where, by page, paragraph, and line number, such allegations are located. CRC 3.1324(b) requires a separate declaration that accompanies the motion, stating: (1) the effect of the amendment; (2) why the amendment is necessary and proper; (3) when the facts giving rise to the amended allegations were discovered; and (4) the reason why the request for amendment was not made earlier.

Here, in support of the Motion, Plaintiff’s counsel submitted a declaration stating that: “When the First Amended Complaint was prepared, through mistake and inadvertence, [he] neglected to name the guarantors to the lease in addition to the sublessee. There are viable guarantors to the lease agreement who should properly be named.” (Declaration of Fred M. Szkolnik, ¶ 3.) The declaration identified and stated the proposed changes as between the First Amended Complaint and the Second Amended Complaint. (Id.) The Motion also includes a copy of the proposed amended pleading. Thus, the Court finds Plaintiff has complied with CRC 3.1324.

Accordingly, the Motion is GRANTED. The Second Amended Complaint is to be filed and served within 15 days from the date of this Order.

Parties who intend to submit on this tentative must send an email to the Court at SMC_DEPT56@lacourt.org as directed by the instructions provided on the court website at www.lacourt.org. If the department does not receive an email and there are no appearances at the hearing, the motion will be placed off calendar.

Hon. Holly J. Fujie

Judge of the Superior Court