Lee v. Yan

Filed 10/31/25 CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION EIGHT

HELEN LEE, B340352

Plaintiff and Respondent, Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. 19STCV46869 v.

CHARLENE YAN,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Holly J. Fujie, Judge. Affirmed. Jen Law Firm and Jerry Jen for Plaintiff and Respondent. Decker Law, James Decker, Griffin Schindler and Chris Jones for Defendant and Appellant. ____________________ The trial court rightly denied Charlene Yan’s motion to vacate Helen Lee’s default judgment. The service of process was proper.

Lee named Yan as a defendant in a suit over an unrepaid loan. The process server went to McSen Realty Corp. at 400 Spectrum Center, Suite 1550, Irvine, CA 92618 five times to serve Yan at her “usual place of business.” Each time he spoke with Catherine Lou, the office administrator. Each time Lou said Yan “was not in at this time.” On the last attempt, the server completed substituted service by leaving documents with Lou and, as the statute requires, mailing them to Yan at the same address. Lee moved for default judgment against Yan. In November 2020, the court granted Lee default judgment against Yan. The court granted Lee an amended default judgment adding Yan’s aliases. In 2022, Lee used the default judgment to levy four of Yan’s bank accounts at Chase Bank. In January 2024, Yan moved to vacate the default judgment under Code of Civil Procedure section 473, subdivision (d) (“Section 473(d)”), which allows a court to set aside a void default. Yan argued Lee’s default was void because service was improper. Yan said the address served in 2020 was not Yan’s usual place of business. In support of this argument and with our emphasis, Yan filed a declaration stating, “I had no position with McSen Realty Corp., located at 400 Spectrum Center, Suite 1550, Irvine, CA 92618 and I did not participate in that business.” She said Lou knew her through Yan’s husband, who did work at McSen Realty Corp. Yan claims she became aware of the default judgment only when informed by her attorney in another matter on January 8, 2024. Her declaration did not elaborate further.