Judge: Maurice A. Leiter, Case: 19STCV31864, Date: 2023-05-11 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 19STCV31864    Hearing Date: November 29, 2023    Dept: 54

Hearing Date: November 29, 2023

Department 54, Judge Maurice A. Leiter

Motion to Set Aside Default and Default Judgment

Moving Party: Defendant Deanna Edwards

Responding Party: Plaintiff Daniel Fitzgerald dba ConTec Development

T/R:      DEFENDANT’S MOTION IS GRANTED.

DEFENDANT TO NOTICE.

If the parties wish to submit on the tentative, please email the courtroom at SMCdept54@lacourt.org with notice to opposing counsel (or self-represented party) before 8:00 am on the day of the hearing.

The Court considers the moving papers, opposition, and reply.

Defendant Edwards moves to set aside entry of default and default judgment. Defendant argues the judgment is void because the amount of the judgment exceeds the amount pleaded in the complaint. Defendant also asserts that she was not properly served with the complaint and that possible clerical errors call the judgment into doubt.

A default judgment that awards damages in excess of those prayed for in the operative complaint is void for lack of jurisdiction. (See e.g. Molen v. Friedman (1998) 64 Cal.App.4th 1149, 1156-7; CCP 580 [The relief granted to the plaintiff, if there is no answer, cannot exceed that demanded in the complaint...]

This is a landlord tenant action. The complaint seeks past due rent and holdover rent but does not specify an amount. Plaintiff asserts that Defendant could deduce the amount owed by looking at the lease attached to complaint. Regardless of whether the lease is sufficient to apprise Plaintiff of the amount of past due rent, the judgment includes damages for repairs caused by Defendant’s tenancy. These damages are not alleged in the complaint. Plaintiff concedes this in opposition to the motion. The judgment is void.

Defendant’s motion is GRANTED. Plaintiff’s post-judgment discovery motions are MOOT.