Judge: Shirley K. Watkins, Case: LC106776, Date: 2022-07-25 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: LC106776    Hearing Date: July 25, 2022    Dept: T

            [TENTATIVE] ORDER:  The Motion to Strike Answer is GRANTED NUNC PRO TUNC.

1. Introduction

   Plaintiffs Zhirayr Alepyan and Leyla Karapetyan, as trustees of The Alepyan Family Trust Dated November 11, 2013, filed a motion to strike Defendant CE Escrow’s verified answer to Plaintiffs’ verified First Amended Complaint.

    

    

    

   2.         Discussion

               Plaintiffs move to strike Defendant CE Escrow’s answer to the First Amended Complaint on grounds that CE Escrow is a corporation and corporations may not appear in a lawsuit without representation by counsel.

   “A corporation cannot appear in court by an officer who is not an attorney and it cannot appear in propria persona.”  (Paradise v. Nowlin (1948) 86 CalApp.2d 897, 898; see also Gamet v. Blanchard (2001) 91 Cal.App.4th 1276, 1284 fn. 5.)

   The Court granted CE Escrow’s counsel’s motion to be relieved as counsel on January 20, 2022 and the order was served that day. The court set an Order to Show Cause why the answer of CE Escrow should not be stricken for failure to have an attorney of record which was heard on 3/24/2022.  No attorney appeared for CE Escrow.  The court struck then the answer of 12/21/2021 and entered default but only as to the answer to the cross-complaint filed by Hacop Ezrumyan and not the operative answer as to the complaint.  That was the court's error. The answer to the complaint should have also been stricken. 

   In response to this motion, there was no opposition and no attorney has appeared.  The Court orders the verified answer filed by CE Escrow on March 11, 2020, stricken nunc pro tunc effective 3/24/2022 and default entered against CE Escrow on the verified First Amended Complaint as of 3/24/2022.  Default was previously entered against CE Escrow on the Unverified Cross Complaint by Hacop Ezrumyan.

            IT IS SO ORDERED, CLERK TO GIVE NOTICE.