Ukoha v. REGR, LLC CA2/1

Filed 2/25/21 Ukoha v. REGR, LLC CA2/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

IFEOMA UKOHA, B295158

Plaintiff and Appellant, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. BC482976) v.

REGR, LLC, et al.,

Defendants and Respondents.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Terry Green, Judge. Affirmed. Herbert Wiggins and Herbert N. Wiggins; John T. Schreiber for Plaintiff and Appellant. Michael Shemtoub for Defendants and Respondents Gregory Royston and Richard Enderlin. ___________________________________

In 2012, Ifeoma Ukoha filed a complaint against a real estate investor, REGR, LLC, and several Doe defendants, alleging defendants wrongfully foreclosed on her property. In 2017, five and a half years later, Ukoha substituted Gregory Royston and Richard Enderlin, REGR’s principals, for Doe defendants, but never served them. In 2018, the trial court granted Royston’s and Enderlin’s motion to quash service of summons on them, and then granted their motion to dismiss the action for lack of prosecution. On appeal, Ukoha contends that a defendant corporation’s alter ego need not be named as a defendant nor individually served to establish jurisdiction. We disagree, and therefore affirm the judgment. BACKGROUND We take the facts from the third amended complaint, accepting them as true for purposes of this appeal. Nothing in this opinion should be construed as a resolution of a disputed issue of fact or as a determination that any fact is undisputed. A. Real Estate Transactions and Bankruptcy 3904 Gibraltar Avenue Trust owned a 17-unit apartment building located at 3904 Gibraltar Avenue in Los Angeles. The trustee was either Savvy Real Estate, Inc., (Savvy) or Trustee Properties, LLC (TPLLC). David Behrend was the owner and executive officer of both entities. The property was encumbered by a $1.1 million promissory note for a loan made by Velocity Commercial Capital Bank (Velocity Bank) to TPLLC at 6.5 percent interest, secured by a deed of trust in favor of the bank. The deed of trust gave Velocity Bank the right to sell the property in case TPLLC defaulted on the loan. The note and deed of trust were recorded on September 30, 2005.