Judge: Lee W. Tsao, Case: 22NWCV01118, Date: 2024-01-23 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 22NWCV01118    Hearing Date: February 20, 2024    Dept: C

Whittier CityCenter, LLC vs A & A Fabrication and Polishing Corporation, et al

Case No.: 22NWCV01118

Hearing Date: February 20, 2024 @ 10:30 AM

#10

Tentative Ruling

Plaintiff Whitter CityCenter, LLC’s unopposed Motion for Leave to Amend Complaint is GRANTED.  Plaintiff to separately file and serve the Second Amended Complaint within 5 days. 

Plaintiff to give notice.

Background

This is an unlawful detainer action.

On or about October 20, 2022, Plaintiff filed its original unlawful detainer complaint in this matter. Plaintiff filed a first amended unlawful detainer complaint on or about January 9, 2023. On April 12, 2023, Defendant filed a “Notice of Surrender of Possession of Property.” After the property was vacated, Plaintiff inspected the premises and learned that Defendants had caused substantial damage to the premises in violation of the lease.

On April 21, 2023, the Court set the trial date for April 5, 2024. The Court also set a Mandatory Settlement Conference for October 31, 2023. After the MSC failed to result in a settlement, Plaintiff sought, and obtained, new counsel, as its prior counsel only works on unlawful detainer matters.

Plaintiff’s counsel substituted into this matter on November 14, 2023. After the Thanksgiving holiday, counsel sent a draft second amended complaint to Defendants’ counsel, Bryan Castorina, requesting that Defendant stipulate to the amendment. (Zohar Decl., ¶ 6.) Mr. Castorina never responded to this request. (Id.)

Plaintiff now seeks to amend its complaint to: 1) remove the issue of possession; 2) add claims for all damages owed by Defendants, including property damage that was discovered after Defendants vacated the premises.

As of February 16, 2024, this motion is unopposed.

Legal Standard

Whether to grant leave to amend lies within the discretion of the Court. (Code Civ. Proc., § 473, subd. (a)(a); see also Code Civ. Proc., § 576.) The court’s discretion should be exercised liberally in favor of amendment. (Cal. Prac. Guide Civ. Pro. Before Trial Ch. 6-E, § 6:638.)

Discussion

The proposed amendments remove the issue of possession because Defendants vacated the premises in April. The proposed amendments also add damages claims for property damage that was discovered after Defendants vacated the premises, as well as past due rent and open book account claims.

The Property was vacated on October 31, 2023. Plaintiff discovered the alleged damage shortly thereafter. Counsel was then substituted on November 14, 2023 as previous counsel only works on unlawful detainer actions. This motion was brought on January 08, 2024. The Court finds the amended is timely.

Plaintiff has included the Second Amended Compliant to the motion label Exhibit 1. (See Mot., Exhibit 1.)

Accordingly, Plaintiff’s Motion for Leave to Amend Compliant is GRANTED.