Judge: Lee W. Tsao, Case: 22NWCV00436, Date: 2024-02-08 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 22NWCV00436    Hearing Date: February 8, 2024    Dept: C

IVY PORTFOLIO, LLC v. STRATTON TERMINTE & ROOFING SOLUTIONS, INC.

CASE NO.:  22NWCV00436

HEARING: 02/08/24

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Defendant STRATTON TERMITE & ROOFING SOLUTIONS, INC.’s Motion to Set Aside Judgment is GRANTED.  

Moving Party to give Notice.

Defendant STRATTON TERMITE & ROOFING SOLUTIONS, INC.’s Proposed Answer attached as Exhibit 3 to the Moving Papers is not deemed filed. Defendant STRATTON TERMITE & ROOFING SOLUTIONS, INC. is ORDERED to shall file the Proposed Answer within five court days of the Court’s issuance of this Order.

All parties are ORDERED to appear for a Case Management Conference on Friday, March 8, 2024 at 9:30 a.m. in Dept. SE-F.

Judgment after Court Trial was entered on October 3, 2023.

Defendant moves to set aside the default under CCP § 473(b), which states that “[t]he court may…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.”

The policy of hearing cases on their merits is well-established. (See, e.g., Berman v. Klassman (1971) 17 Cal.App.3d 900.) Given the liberality associated with Motions to Set Aside Defaults, the Court finds the Declarations of Dante Ardite and Frank Martinez sufficient to warrant to relief. The law favors trials on the merits. (Rappleyea v. Campbell (1994) 8 Cal.4th 975, 980.) The Court finds adequate grounds to allow Defendant the opportunity to defend itself on the merits of this action.

The Motion is GRANTED.

In Opposition, Plaintiff seeks $33,163.21 in fees and costs associated with litigating this matter to date plus $3,157.26 in fees and costs associated with opposing this Motion. Plaintiff also requests that this Court re-issue an Order for Mr. Ardite to pay unpaid sanctions in the amount of $4,905.00. Plaintiff’s requests for sanctions in the amounts sought are excessive.  The Court imposes sanctions in the amount of $1,000.00 pursuant to CCP §473(c)(1)(A). “Whenever the court grants relief from a default, default judgment, or dismissal based on any of the provisions of this section, the court may do any of the following: (A) impose a penalty of no greater than one thousand dollars ($1,000) upon an offending attorney or party.” (CCP §473(c)(1)(A).)