Judge: William A. Crowfoot, Case: 20GDCV00936, Date: 2024-08-02 Tentative Ruling


Case Number: 20GDCV00936    Hearing Date: August 2, 2024    Dept: 3

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FOR THE COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES - NORTHEAST DISTRICT

 

DAE LUE,

                    Plaintiff(s),

          vs.

 

HONG ZHU, et al.,

 

                    Defendant(s).

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     CASE NO.:  20GDCV00936

 

[TENTATIVE] ORDER RE: APPLICATION FOR DEFAULT JUDGMENT

 

Dept. 3

8:30 a.m.

August 2, 2024

 

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On November 3, 2020, plaintiff Dale Lue (“Plaintiff”) filed this action against defendants Hong Zhu (“Zhu”) and Global Freight Services, Inc. (“GFS”) to recover past due rent for the business premises located at 9035 Telstar Avenue, El Monte, CA 91731, and for monetary damages incurred to repair the property. The Complaint prays for past due rent in the amount of $22,678 and damages in the amount of $16,800, in addition to prejudgment interest, costs, and attorney’s fees.

The requests for court judgment against each defendant demand $34,978 in damages, which is the amount demanded in the complaint ($39,478) less the security deposit of $4,500, along with $13,991.20 in prejudgment interest, for a total of $48,969.20.

Plaintiff’s application for default judgment is deficient in several ways. First, Plaintiff declares that he incurred damages to the rental property in the amount of $16,800, but the evidence attached does not support this claim. Specifically, the receipt for “All Haul Tires” does not list a charge of $2,500.

Also, Plaintiff’s calculation of prejudgment interest is incomplete because Plaintiff does not state the principal amount used to calculate interest or explain why the interest rate is 10% for the entire amount when some of Plaintiff’s damages arise not from contract, but from tort. Interest rates for tort damages are limited to 7 percent per annum. Last, Plaintiff should have submitted only one proposed judgment indicating that Zhu and GFS are jointly and severally liable. Accordingly, the hearing is continued to _______ at 8:30 a.m. in Department 3 of the Alhambra Courthouse so that Plaintiff provide a revised calculation of damages and prejudgment interest, as well as a revised proposed judgment.

 

Dated this 2nd day of August, 2024

 

 

 

 

       William A. Crowfoot

Judge of the Superior Court

 

 

Parties who intend to submit on this tentative must send an email to the Court at ALHDEPT3@lacourt.org indicating intention to submit on the tentative as directed by the instructions provided on the court website at www.lacourt.org. Please be advised that if you submit on the tentative and elect not to appear at the hearing, the opposing party may nevertheless appear at the hearing and argue the matter. Unless you receive a submission from all other parties in the matter, you should assume that others might appear at the hearing to argue. If the Court does not receive emails from the parties indicating submission on this tentative ruling and there are no appearances at the hearing, the Court may, at its discretion, adopt the tentative as the final order or place the motion off calendar.