Judge: William A. Crowfoot, Case: 22AHCV01276, Date: 2024-05-17 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 22AHCV01276    Hearing Date: May 17, 2024    Dept: 3

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FOR THE COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES - NORTHEAST DISTRICT

 

HSIN JOU HOU,

                    Plaintiff(s),

          vs.

 

DANIEL CHIU,

 

                    Defendant(s).

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     CASE NO.:  22AHCV01276

 

[TENTATIVE] ORDER RE: APPLICATION FOR DEFAULT JUDGMENT

 

Dept. 3

8:30 a.m.

May 17, 2024

 

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On December 12, 2022, plaintiffs Hsin Jou Hou, Senqiang Liang, Zhihua Dai, Liping Su, Shu-O Lien, Chang-Wu Chi, and Ran Zhen filed this action against defendants Daniel Chiu, Rebecca Chiu, Arc-I, and Oasis Growth Partners LLC (“Oasis”) (collectively, “Defendants”). Plaintiffs seek a default judgment of $4,379,096.81 against Defendants, consisting of $3.71 million as demanded in the complaint and $667,800 in interest. Plaintiffs allege that Defendants mismanaged the project and embezzled the money for their personal use.

There are several issues with Plaintiffs’ application. First, Plaintiffs’ proposed judgment does not indicate how much of the money judgment each plaintiff will receive. Second, Plaintiffs do not specify whether the judgment is joint and several as to all Defendants. Third, Plaintiffs state that a motion for attorneys’ fees will follow. However, "a plaintiff seeking an award of attorney fees from a defaulting defendant must request those fees at the time the plaintiff requests entry of default.” (Garcia v. Politis (2011) 192 Cal.App.4th 1474, 1480.) Therefore, Plaintiffs must calculate and state the amount of recoverable attorney’s fees in their default package. If the fees sought exceed the schedule provided in Local Rule 3.214(a), Plaintiffs must include a declaration explaining why the Court should award the greater amount.

Accordingly, the hearing is continued to June 5, 2024 at 8:30 a.m. in Department 3 of the Alhambra Courthouse.

 

 

 

Dated this 17th day of May, 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.