Judge: Jon R. Takasugi, Case: 24STCV12549, Date: 2025-01-06 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 24STCV12549    Hearing Date: January 7, 2025    Dept: 17

Superior Court of California

County of Los Angeles

DEPARTMENT 17

TENTATIVE RULING

Plaintiff’s motion for an order directing West Coast Escrow to release $614,460.00, presently held in escrow to Malibu Surf, Inc is DENIED.

            On 5/17/2024, Plaintiff Malibu Surf, Inc. (Plaintiff) filed suit against Choi and Jeanie Pak (collectively, Defendants), alleging: (1) breach of contract.

            On 10/18/2024, Plaintiff moved for release of undisputed funds.

Discussion

            Plaintiff seeks an order directing West Coast Escrow to release $614,460, presently held in escrow to Malibu Surf, Inc.

            After review, the Court denies the motion for several reasons.

            First, Plaintiff sought this relief via an ex parte application. As made clear in its 11/21/2024 Minute Order, the Court read and considered all moving and opposing party papers, and denied the application. As such, Plaintiff’s motion amounts to a motion for reconsideration. (See Powell v. County of Orange (2011) 197 Cal.App.4th 1573, 1577 “…regardless of the name, a motion asking the trial court to decide the same matter previously ruled on is a motion for reconsideration…”) Given that Plaintiff has not set forth any new law or facts which could justify reconsideration, the motion must be denied.

            Second, Defendants’ opposition raises issues of Plaintiff’s standing to make this request, given that Plaintiff apparently assigned all rights, title, interest, and obligations to the Subject Property and the original Purchase Contract to Iris Amar, who is not a party to this litigation. As such, there are disputes as to whether or not Plaintiff is able to request the relief sought.   

            Third, Plaintiff seeks relief under Civil Code section 1057.3. However, section 1057.3(c) provides that there is no cause of action under that statute if there is a good faith dispute between the buyer and seller. Here, at the pleadings stage, there remain triable issues as to whether or not a good faith dispute existed here. Accordingly, relief is premature.

            Based on the foregoing, Plaintiff’s motion for an order directing West Coast Escrow to release $614,460, presently held in escrow to Malibu Surf, Inc is denied.

It is so ordered.

Dated:  January    , 2025

   Hon. Jon R. Takasugi
   Judge of the Superior Court

Parties who intend to submit on this tentative must send an email to the court at smcdept17@lacourt.org by 4 p.m. the day prior as directed by the instructions provided on the court website at www.lacourt.org.  If a party submits on the tentative, the party’s email must include the case number and must identify the party submitting on the tentative.  If all parties to a motion submit, the court will adopt this tentative as the final order.  If the department does not receive an email indicating the parties are submitting on the tentative and there are no appearances at the hearing, the motion may be placed off calendar.  For more information, please contact the court clerk at (213) 633-0517.