Judge: Mark E. Windham, Case: LAM17K04913, Date: 2022-12-05 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: LAM17K04913    Hearing Date: December 5, 2022    Dept: 26

Marina Pacifica HOA v. Fisher, et al.

MOTION TO RECLASSIFY

(CCP § 403.040)

TENTATIVE RULING:   

Plaintiff Marina Pacific Homeowners Association’s Motion to Reclassify Action is GRANTED. THIS CASE IS RECLASSIFIED AS AN UNLIMITED CIVIL CASE AND TRANSFERRED TO THE RECLASSIFICATION/TRANSFER DESK FOR COLLECTION OF FEES AND REASSIGNMENT TO AN INDEPENDENT CALENDAR COURT. PLAINTIFF TO PAY THE RECLASSIFICATION FEE WITHIN TEN (10) DAYS OF THIS ORDER.

ANALYSIS:

On April 21, 2017, Plaintiff Marina Pacifica Homeowners Association (“Plaintiff”) filed this action against Defendant Pamela Fisher (“Defendant”) for failure to pay Association fees. On September 28, 2018, Plaintiff filed a Notice of Stay due to Defendant’s bankruptcy filing. On November 26, 2019, Plaintiff filed a Notice of Termination of Stay.

Plaintiff filed the instant Motion to Reclassify the Action to a Court of Unlimited Jurisdiction (“Motion”) on November 27, 2019. Prior to the Motion being heard, Defendant filed a second Notice of Stay due to a second bankruptcy filing. At the Status Conference Re Stay of Proceeding on August 25, 2020, Plaintiff’s counsel stated the bankruptcy was still pending and the Court continued the Status Conference and hearing on the Motion to Reclassify to October 21, 2020, while keeping the bankruptcy stay in place. (Minute Order, 08/25/20.) The Status Conference and Motion to Reclassify were then continued multiple times on the same grounds until the current hearing date of December 5, 2022. (Minute Orders, 10/21/20; 03/18/21; 05/26/21; 08/30/21; 12/15/21, 06/15/22.) On July 19, 2022, Plaintiff filed a Notice of Termination or Modification of Stay. To date, no opposition has been filed to the Motion to Reclassify.

Discussion

Code of Civil Procedure section 403.040 allows a plaintiff to file a motion for reclassification of an action within the time allowed for that party to amend the initial pleading. (Code Civ. Proc., § 403.040, subd. (a).) If the motion is made after the time for the plaintiff to amend the pleading, the motion may only be granted if (1) the case is incorrectly classified; and (2) the plaintiff shows good cause for not seeking reclassification earlier. (Code Civ. Proc., § 403.040, subd. (b).)

The initial time for Plaintiff to amend the pleadings having passed, Plaintiff must show both that the case is incorrectly classified and that it has good cause for not moving to reclassify earlier. In Walker v. Superior Court (1991) 53 Cal.3d 257, 262, the California Supreme Court held that a matter may be reclassified from unlimited to limited only if it appears to a legal certainty that the plaintiff's damages will necessarily be less than $25,000. (Walker v. Superior Court (1991) 53 Cal.3d 257.) In Ytuarte v. Superior Court (2005) 129 Cal.App.4th 266, 278, the Court of Appeals examined the principles it set forth in Walker and held that “the court should reject the plaintiff's effort to reclassify the action as unlimited only when the lack of jurisdiction as an “unlimited” case is certain and clear.” (Id. at 279.) Nevertheless, the plaintiff must present evidence to demonstrate a possibility that the damages will exceed $25,000.00 and the trial court must review the record to determine “whether a judgment in excess of $25,000.00 is obtainable.” (Ibid.)

Plaintiff presents evidence that when this action was filed the damages were within the jurisdiction of this Court but as assessments and fees have accrued over time, its damages now exceed $25,000.00. (Motion, Canfield Decl., ¶¶2-3.) This evidence, which is unopposed, demonstrates both good cause for the timing of this Motion and that Plaintiff has a possibility of damages that will exceed the amount in controversy allowed in the limited jurisdiction Court.

Conclusion

Plaintiff’s Motion to Reclassify Action is GRANTED. THIS CASE IS RECLASSIFIED AS AN UNLIMITED CIVIL CASE AND TRANSFERRED TO THE RECLASSIFICATION/TRANSFER DESK FOR COLLECTION OF FEES AND REASSIGNMENT TO AN INDEPENDENT CALENDAR COURT. PLAINTIFF TO PAY THE RECLASSIFICATION FEE WITHIN TEN (10) DAYS OF THIS ORDER.

Moving party to give notice.