Judge: Lee S. Arian, Case: 23STCV07720, Date: 2024-01-18 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 23STCV07720    Hearing Date: March 4, 2024    Dept: 27

Complaint Filed:          4/07/23   

   

Hon. Lee S. Arian   

Department 27   

Tentative Ruling   

  

Hearing Date:                  3/4/2024 at 1:30 p.m.   

Case No./Name:           23STCV07720 HOPE GOLDEN vs LYNWOOD J.H LLC, et al.

Motion:                                  DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO COMPEL FORM INTERROGATORIES, SET ONE; MOTION TO COMPEL SPECIAL INTERROGATORIES, SET ONE; MOTION TO COMPEL REQUESTS FOR PRODUCTION, SET ONE; MOTION FOR SANCTIONS  

Moving Party:                 Defendants Lynwood J.H LLC, Josef Haghnazarazadeh, Mikel Haghnazarazadeh

Responding Party:      Plaintiff Hope Golden

Notice:                                Sufficient   

Shape   

Ruling:                               DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO COMPEL FORM INTERROGATORIES, SET ONE IS GRANTED.

 

DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO COMPEL SPECIAL INTERROGATORIES, SET ONE IS GRANTED. 

 

DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO COMPEL REQUESTS FOR PRODUCTION, SET ONE IS GRANTED.

 

DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SANCTIONS IS GRANTED. 

 

 

 

  

Shape   

BACKGROUND   

 

On April 7, 2023, Plaintiff initiated this action, alleging that Josef Haghnazarazadeh and Mikel Haghnazarazadeh as manager/owner of the residential unit owned by Defendant Lynwood J.H LLC, failed to intervene when Plaintiff was attacked by other residents.

On September 14, 2023, Defendants served Plaintiff their Form Interrogatories Set One, Special Interrogatories Set One, and Request for Production Set One. (Evans Decl. ¶ 2.) The deadline to respond was October 16, 2023; however, plaintiff did not respond by that date. (Evans Decl. ¶ 3.) Consequently, on December 26, 2023, Defendants brought the present three motions to compel.  Plaintiff did not file any opposition.

   

ANALYSIS   

   

1.  Interrogatories and Requests for Production 

 

A plaintiff may make a demand for production of documents and propound interrogatories without leave of court at any time 10 days after the service of the summons on, or appearance by, the party to whom the demand is directed, whichever occurs first. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2031.020, subd. (b); Code Civ. Proc., § 2030.020, subd. (b).) The demand for production of documents is not limited by number, but the request must comply with the formatting requirements in Code Civ. Proc., § 2031.030. A party may propound 35 specially prepared interrogatories that are relevant to the subject matter of the pending action and any additional number of official form interrogatories that are relevant to the subject matter of the pending action. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2030.030, subd. (a)(1) - (a)(2).)  

 

The party whom the request is propounded upon is required to respond within 30 days after service of a demand, but the parties are allowed to informally agree to an extension and confirm any such agreement in writing. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2031.260, subd. (a); Code Civ. Proc., § 2030.260, subd. (a); Code Civ. Proc., § 2031.270, subd. (a) - (b); Code Civ. Proc., § 2030.270, subd. (a) - (b).)  

 

If a party fails to timely respond to a request for production or interrogatories, the party to whom the request is directed waives any right to exercise the option to produce writings under Code Civ. Proc., § 2030.230, and waives any objection, including one based on privilege or on the protection for work product. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2031.300, subd. (a); Code Civ. Proc., § 2030.290, subd. (a).)   

    

Code of Civil Procedure section 2023.030, subdivision (a) provides, in pertinent part, that the court may impose a monetary sanction on a party engaging in the misuse of the discovery process to pay the reasonable expenses, including attorney’s fees, incurred by anyone as a result of that conduct. A misuse of the discovery process includes failing to respond or submit to an authorized method of discovery. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2023.010, subd. (d).)   A court has discretion to fix the amount of reasonable monetary sanctions. (Cornerstone Realty Advisors, LLC v. Summit Healthcare Reit, Inc. (2020) 56 Cal.App.5th 771, 791.)    

   

Plaintiff failed to serve timely initial responses to Defendants' Interrogatories Set One, Special Interrogatories Set One, and Requests for Production Set One. (Evans Decl. ¶3.) Additionally, Plaintiff did not file any opposition, and no evidence was presented indicating that Plaintiff filed any responses prior to the hearing date. Thus, Defendants’ motions to compel are GRANTED.

 

Plaintiff is thus ORDERED to provide verified responses to Form Interrogatories - General, Set One, Special Interrogatories, Set One, Requests for Production, Set One within 20 days of the hearing without any objections, including those based on privilege or the protection of work product (Code Civ. Proc., § 2031.300 subd. (a); Code Civ. Proc., § 2030.290, subd. (a)). For interrogatories, the lack of response also constitutes a waiver of any right to exercise the option to produce writings under Code Civ. Proc., § 2030.230.

 

2.  Sanctions  

 

Plaintiff's failure to provide timely responses necessitated Defendants’ filing of the present motions, leading to the Defendants to incur attorney's fees. Defendants have requested $2,400 in attorneys' fees for each motion, based on a billable rate of $400 per hour. Considering the duplicative nature of the motions, complexity of the issues involved, and the absence of any opposition, the Court hereby reduces the sanctions awarded from what was requested.  The Court hereby ORDERS Plaintiff and her counsel, jointly and severally, to pay sanctions in the amount of $1,400 to Defendants Lynwood J.H LLC, Josef Haghnazarazadeh, and Mikel Haghnazarazadeh , payable within 30 days of today.  

 

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE:    

 

·                     If a party intends to submit on this tentative ruling, the party must send an email to the court at sscdept27@lacourt.org with the Subject line “SUBMIT” followed by the case number.  The body of the email must include the hearing date and time, counsel’s contact information, and the identity of the party submitting.      

·                     Unless all parties submit by email to this tentative ruling, the parties should arrange to appear remotely (encouraged) or in person for oral argument.  You should assume that others may appear at the hearing to argue.      

·                     If the parties neither submit nor appear at hearing, the Court may take the motion off calendar or adopt the tentative ruling as the order of the Court.  After the Court has issued a tentative ruling, the Court may prohibit the withdrawal of the subject motion without leave.