Judge: Mark C. Kim, Case: 22LBCV00019, Date: 2022-12-20 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 22LBCV00019    Hearing Date: December 20, 2022    Dept: S27

1.     Background Facts

Plaintiff, Ariel Knight filed this action against Defendants, Robert Louis Wood, Jacqueline Amy Wood, The Wood Family Trust, Robert Louis Wood and Jacqueline Amy Wood as Trustees, and Henry Perry for damages arising out of the parties’ landlord-tenant relationship. 

Plaintiff filed her complaint on 1/18/22.  Perry filed an answer and cross-complaint on 5/23/22.  The Wood Defendants filed a demurrer and motion to strike on 7/01/22.  The Court sustained the demurrer on 11/17/22 and granted leave to amend.  Defendants gave notice of the ruling on 12/08/22.  Plaintiff filed the operative FAC on 12/12/22.    

2.     Motions to Compel

On 10/24/22, Defendants filed these motions to compel responses to FROGs, SROGs, and RPDs.  Defendants’ motions establish that they propounded the subject discovery on 8/02/22.  Despite their attempt to meet and confer, Plaintiff did not serve responses.  Defendants therefore seek an order compelling responses to the subject discovery, without objections, compelling Plaintiff to serve all responsive documents in connection with the RPDs, and imposing sanctions. 

The motions to compel responses are granted.  Plaintiff must serve responses to all of the outstanding discovery, without objections, within ten days.  CCP §§2030.290(a), (b), 2031.300(a), (b).

The motion to compel Plaintiff to serve all responsive documents is denied without prejudice.  The relief sought is not yet ripe.  A motion to compel production of documents sounds under §2031.320, and is only ripe once a party promises to provide responsive documents but fails to actually do so. 

The request for sanctions is granted.  Defendants seek imposition of sanctions in connection with the motion to compel responses to FROGs only.  They seek sanctions in the reasonable and fully supported amount of $724.  They seek sanctions solely against Plaintiff, personally, and not against Plaintiff’s attorney of record.  Plaintiff is ordered to pay sanctions to Defendants, by and through their attorney of record, in the amount of $724, within twenty days. 

Defendants are ordered to give notice. 

Parties who intend to submit on this tentative must send an email to the court at gdcdepts27@lacourt.org indicating intention to submit on the tentative as directed by the instructions provided on the court website at www.lacourt.org.  If the department does not receive an email indicating the parties are submitting on the tentative and there are no appearances at the hearing, the motion may be placed off calendar.  If a party submits on the tentative, the party’s email must include the case number and must identify the party submitting on the tentative. If any party does not submit on the tentative, the party should make arrangements to appear remotely at the hearing on this matter.