Judge: Jon R. Takasugi, Case: 21STCV30265, Date: 2022-08-17 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 21STCV30265    Hearing Date: August 17, 2022    Dept: 17

Superior Court of California

County of Los Angeles

DEPARTMENT 17

TENTATIVE RULING

            After review, the Court has identified the following deficiencies with Plaintiff’s default judgment packet:

-          The Home Improvement contract clearly states that it was for $90,000. Plaintiff has not submitted any evidence which could show that her mother was cognitively impaired at the time of signing. Rather, Plaintiff states in a conclusory fashion that “my mother was cognitively impaired and suffered from diabetes, COPD lung disease, and high blood pressure.” Plaintiff must submit evidence that could show that Plaintiff’s mother was cognitively impaired at the time of signing.

-          Moreover, Plaintiff herself signed this contract. While she says she did so “based on Kim’s representations only after my mother had signed and construction had started,” the relevant contract documents attached to the Complaint all have the same 8/17/2017 signing date. Plaintiff must explain this discrepancy.

-          Moreover, even assuming the addendum monthly payment was added in later as Plaintiff contends, the other sections of the contract which Plaintiff signed and which she does not claim were filled in later clearly state $90,000 as the contract price.    

Plaintiff offers no explanation for her failure to note that the brief contract repeatedly states a $90,000.00 contract price. While Plaintiff states that Kim had orally represented that the contract would be for $20,000, a party’s unreasonable reliance on another’s misrepresentations, resulting in a failure to read a written agreement before signing it, is an insufficient basis for voiding a contractual agreement. (Rosenthal v. Great Western Fin. Securities Corp. (1996) 14 Cal.4th 394.) Plaintiff has not submitted any evidence that could show she or her mother lacked a reasonable opportunity to learn the character of the documents they signed.