Escrow Owners Assn. Inc. v. Taft Allen, Inc.

SHINN, J.

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This is an appeal from judgments dismissing the action as to two defendants whose demurrers were sustained without leave to amend, plaintiffs having declined to amend.

Plaintiff Escrow Owners Association, Inc. is a nonprofit corporation whose members are escrow agents. Other plaintiffs are licensed escrow agents, or officers or stockholders in corporations licensed as escrow agents.

Defendants are 23 individuals, partnerships or corporations who are licensed real estate brokers; also named as defendants are Milton G. Gordon, then State Real Estate Commissioner and Charles E. Riekershauser, then State Corporations Commissioner.

The action is for declaratory relief and an injunction. The gravamen of the action is that the defendant brokers are rendering services as escrow holders in violation of law in that they are not licensed escrow agents, and are therefore competing unfairly with the plaintiffs.

Plaintiffs allege that the action is instituted in behalf of all the many licensed escrow agents throughout the state, and that there are hundreds of real estate brokers, not named, whose interests are identical with those of the named defendants.

Defendants Reliable Mortgage Corporation, and Taft Allen, Inc., a corporation, filed demurrers to the complaint; the de

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murrers .were sustained without leave to amend after plaintiffs declined to amend, and judgments of dismissal were entered as to these defendants. The appeal is from these judgments. The record does not show that the defendant commissioners or any of the remaining defendants were served.

After notice from the clerk neither of the respondents filed a brief and the appeal was submitted upon the brief of appellants. (Rule 17(b), Cal. Rules of Court.)

The court received no communication from respondents’ attorneys of record explaining the failure to file briefs. We think such an explanation by attorneys is due the court when no respondent’s brief is filed. We realize that it would be embarrassing to inform the court that the client was indifferent to what might happen on the appeal or that he was too poor or too frugal to pay for a brief, but we think the attorneys should be interested for the court to know they have not deserted their clients. We sent for the superior court file in order to look-at the points and authorities filed in support of the demurrers;' We probably got as much help from them as we would have received from briefs. They do show that the respondents challenged the sufficiency of the complaint to warrant declaratory relief.