Defendant Sharona Attarchi’s Motion to Stay Proceedings is DENIED.

Defendant Sharona Attarchi to give notice. 

REASONING

Defendant Sharona Attarchi (“Defendant”) moves the Court for an order staying this action pending the results of Plaintiff Sheida Ashley (“Plaintiff”)’s recently filed Writ of Mandate against the City of Los Angeles (“the City”), wherein Plaintiff seeks judicial review of the City’s and Department of Building and Safety’s approval of Defendant’s home construction and the issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy. Defendants argues that the factual and legal issues addressed in the writ overlap with the factual and legal issues presented in this action, and a stay would promote judicial economy and would not prejudice Plaintiff.

The Court finds no basis to stay this action. First, Defendant cites only the Court’s inherent power to stay an action or control its process as the legal grounds for a stay; she fails to cite any legal authority requiring this Court to stay an action before it where a party takes issue with an administrative action not at issue in the present litigation. Second, the First Amended Complaint makes clear that Plaintiff takes issue with Defendant’s construction, not the issuance of the Certificate of Occupancy. The outcome of the proceedings as to the Certificate of Occupancy will presumably only affect the parties’ ability to meet their burden of proving their claims and defenses here, i.e., the outcome of the Certificate of Occupancy would not definitively allow a party to invoke the doctrines of res judicata or collateral estoppel. The claims in this action exceed the limited scope of the Writ of Mandate, as those proceedings only take issue with the Certificate of Occupancy, while Plaintiff asserts eight civil causes of action arising out of construction conduct. The Court also cannot conclude that Plaintiff will suffer no prejudice, as a stay would require Plaintiff to wait for resolution in this action with no definite timeframe as to when the writ will be resolved. Accordingly, Defendant Sharona Attarchi’s Motion to Stay Proceedings is DENIED.