Thomas v. Rothman CA2/2

Filed 10/27/22 Thomas v. Rothman CA2/2 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 TWO

ANTHONY THOMAS, JR., B315139

Plaintiff and Appellant, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. v. 20NWCV00360)

LARRY ROTHMAN,

Defendant and Respondent.

APPEAL from the judgment and order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Olivia Rosales, Judge. Reversed.

Alaba Ajetunmobi for Plaintiff and Appellant.

Steven D. Silverstein for Defendant and Respondent.

****** Timing is everything. A lawyer was sued for recording an assessment lien as well as documents preliminary to a nonjudicial foreclosure, activities for which he may be civilly immune. (Wilton v. Mountain Wood Homeowners Assn. (1993) 18 Cal.App.4th 565, 569-570 [assessment lien privileged]; Civ. Code, § 2924, subd. (b) [trustee’s acts of recording documents associated with nonjudicial foreclosure privileged]; id., § 47.) Rather than move for summary judgment, however, the lawyer moved to dismiss the lawsuit against him under our State’s anti-SLAPP law (Code Civ. Proc., § 425.16). The trial court granted the lawyer’s anti-SLAPP motion. Alas, this was wrong because the lawyer’s conduct is not conduct protected by the anti-SLAPP law; we must accordingly reinstate the lawsuit. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND I. Facts Anthony Thomas, Jr. (plaintiff) inherited a townhome that is part of the Lakewood Village Townhomes Homeowner’s Association (the Association). In 2019 and 2020, plaintiff’s tenant in the townhome violated several of the Association’s rules and plaintiff was assessed fines for those violations. By March 2020, plaintiff owed the Association a total of $16,790.27 from the violations as well as unpaid annual assessment dues. The Association retained Larry Rothman (Rothman), an attorney, to file an assessment lien against plaintiff’s property and to initiate nonjudicial foreclosure proceedings to collect the unpaid amount. Rothman carried out those duties: He recorded an assessment lien on July 10, 2019; he recorded a notice of default against the property on March 26, 2020; and he recorded a notice of a trustee’s sale on October 8, 2020, with a foreclosure