Judge: Maurice A. Leiter, Case: 22STCV26395, Date: 2025-01-31 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 22STCV26395    Hearing Date: January 31, 2025    Dept: 54

Hearing Date: January 31, 2025

Department 54, Judge Maurice Leiter

Motion to Amend Judgment

Moving Party: Defendant Trinity Financial Services, LLC

Responding Party: Plaintiff Nichole Shepherd

T/R:     DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO AMEND JUDGMENT IS DENIED.

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 Trinity moves to amend the judgment expressed by the Court after a bench trial under CCP § 187, which provides that courts may use “all the means necessary” to carry their jurisdiction into effect.

Plaintiff filed this action on August 16, 2022 for the purpose of halting a pending nonjudicial foreclosure sale of real property based upon a Deed of Trust recorded in a second lien position on real property in Granada Hills, California. On November 13, 2025, following a bench trial, the Court found in favor of Plaintiff as to the fifth cause of action for declaratory relief and seventh cause of action for UCL violation.

Defendant asserts that the Court should not have ruled in favor of Plaintiff on the seventh cause of action for violation of the UCL for improper delayed enforcement of their lien. Defendant asserts that it did not improperly delay and instead was forced to delay due to Plaintiff’s bankruptcy proceedings. In opposition, Plaintiff disputes that the bankruptcies precluded Defendant from enforcement and argues that Defendant could have brought this evidence during trial.

The Court will not amend the judgment under CCP § 187. If Defendant takes issue with the legal and factual findings of the Court’s judgment after bench trial, the remedy is to file a motion for new trial or motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. The Court cannot otherwise reconsider evidence and argument regarding the merits of Plaintiff’s claims after trial.

Defendant’s motion is DENIED.