TENTATIVE RULING

Defendants Jonah Nok Him Woo and Tommy Woo’s Motion to Compel Answers to Form Interrogatories Set Number [One] and Special Interrogatories [sic] Set Number One is GRANTED. Plaintiff Amaya Molina shall serve code-compliant responses to Defendants Jonah Nok Him Woo and Tommy Woo’s Form Interrogatories, Set One, and Special Interrogatories, Set One, without objections, within thirty (30) days of entry of this order.

Defendants Jonah Nok Him Woo and Tommy Woo’s Motion to Compel Response to Request for Production of Documents is GRANTED. Plaintiff Amaya Molina shall serve code-compliant responses to Defendants Jonah Nok Him Woo and Tommy Woo’s Request for Production of Documents, Set One, without objections, within thirty (30) days of entry of this order.

Defendants Jonah Nok Him Woo and Tommy Woo’s Request for Monetary Sanctions is GRANTED in the reduced amount of $995, payable by Plaintiff Amaya Molina and Plaintiff’s counsel to Defendants Jonah Nok Him Woo and Tommy Woo and defense counsel within thirty (30) days of entry of this order.

Defendants Jonah Nok Him Woo and Tommy Woo to give notice. 

REASONING

As a preliminary matter, the Court notes that one of Defendants Jonah Nok Him Woo and Tommy Woo (“Defendants”)’s pending motions is two motions filed as one, that is, a motion to compel Plaintiff Amaya Molina (“Plaintiff”)’s responses to Defendants’ Form Interrogatories, Set One, and a motion to compel Plaintiff’s responses to Defendants’ Special Interrogatories, Set One. Defendants are required to pay a third filing fee of $60 within ten (10) days of entry of this order.

If a party to whom interrogatories are directed fails to serve a timely response, the propounding party may move for an order compelling responses and for a monetary sanction. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2030.290, subds. (b), (c).) Failure to timely respond waives all objections, including privilege and work product, unless “[t]he party has subsequently served a response that is in substantial compliance” and “[t]he party’s failure to serve a timely response was the result of mistake, inadvertence, or excusable neglect.” (Code Civ. Proc., § 2030.290, subd. (a).) The statute contains no time limit for a motion to compel where no responses have been served. All that need be shown in the moving papers is that a set of interrogatories was properly served on the opposing party, that the time to respond has expired, and that no response of any kind has been served. (Leach v. Superior Court (1980) 111 Cal.App.3d 902, 905-906.)

Similarly, where there has been no timely response to a Code of Civil Procedure section 2031.010 demand, the demanding party must seek an order compelling a response. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2031.300, subd. (b).) Failure to timely respond waives all objections, including privilege and work product.  (Code Civ. Proc., § 2031.300, subd. (a).) Thus, unless the party to whom the demand was directed obtains relief from waiver, he or she cannot raise objections to the documents demanded. (Ibid.) There is no deadline for a motion to compel responses. Likewise, for failure to respond, the moving party need not attempt to resolve the matter outside court before filing the motion. (See Code Civ. Proc., § 2031.300.) Where the motion seeks only a response to the inspection demand, no showing of “good cause” is required. (Contra Code Civ. Proc., § 2031.310, subd. (b)(1) [good cause requirement for motion to compel further responses].)

Defendants served Plaintiff with their Form Interrogatories, Set One, Special Interrogatories, Set One, and Request for Production of Documents, Set One, on December 6, 2023. (Mots., Dilts Decls. ¶ 4.) Defense counsel communicated with Plaintiff’s counsel to extend the time to respond on two occasions. (Mots., Dilts Decls. ¶¶ 5-6.) To date, no responses have been received. (Mots., Dilts Decls. ¶ 8.)

Accordingly, Defendants Jonah Nok Him Woo and Tommy Woo’s Motion to Compel Answers to Form Interrogatories Set Number [One] and Special Interrogatorties [sic] Set Number One is GRANTED, and Defendants Jonah Nok Him Woo and Tommy Woo’s Motion to Compel Response to Request for Production of Documents is GRANTED. Plaintiff Amaya Molina shall serve code-compliant responses to Defendants Jonah Nok Him Woo and Tommy Woo’s Form Interrogatories, Set One, Special Interrogatories, Set One, and Request for Production of Documents, Set One, without objections, within thirty (30) days of entry of this order.

If a motion to compel responses to interrogatories or requests for production is filed, the Court may impose a monetary sanction against the losing party “unless it finds that the one subject to the sanction acted with substantial justification or that other circumstances make the imposition of the sanction unjust.” (Code Civ. Proc., §§ 2030.290, subd. (c); 2031.300, subd. (c).) Further, “[t]he court may award sanctions under the Discovery Act in favor of a party who files a motion to compel discovery, even though no opposition to the motion was filed, or opposition to the motion was withdrawn, or the requested discovery was provided to the moving party after the motion was filed.” (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.1348(a).) An order granting a request for monetary sanctions is proper where unsworn responses are provided. (See Appleton, supra, 206 Cal.App.3d at p. 636.)

Defendants request $1,520 in monetary sanctions for the motions. The Court finds that monetary sanctions are proper, but the Court reduces the amount to $995, representing two hours spent preparing each motion and one hour spent appearing at the hearing on the motions, totaling five hours at the rate of $175 per hour, as well as two filing fees.