Moon v. 752 South Main Street CA2/5

Filed 4/9/13 Moon v. 752 South Main Street CA2/5 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 FIVE

SANDRA MOON et al., B244099

Plaintiffs and Respondents, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. BC475184) v.

752 SOUTH MAIN STREET et al.,

Defendants and Appellants.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Richard E. Rico, Judge. Affirmed. Stark, Friedman & Chapman and Christofer R. Chapman and Patrick Stark for Defendants and Appellants. Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, Barbara Schultz, Paul Estuar and Fernando Gaytan; and Steptoe & Johnson, John P. Swenson and Jason Levin, for Plaintiffs and Respondents.

Defendants, 752 South Main LLC, Rodney Goldberg and Richard Stromberg, appeal from a preliminary injunction order entered in favor of plaintiff, Cynthia Johnson. Plaintiff was a tenant at the Huntington Hotel, a 200-unit residential hotel in downtown Los Angeles. Since 2005, the Huntington Hotel has been placed by the Los Angeles Housing Department into the City Rent Escrow Account Program because of numerous health and safety code violations. Defendants purchased the Huntington Hotel in September 2010. To have the residential hotel removed from the City Rent Escrow Account Program, defendants submitted a proposed tenant habitability plan to the Los Angeles Housing Department in December 2010. Plaintiff alleged defendants unlawfully evicted her from her apartment in the Huntington Hotel on December 1, 2011. On February 14, 2012, plaintiff moved for a preliminary injunction in the instant action. The motion was denied by the trial court because of a pending unlawful detainer case that addressed the same issue. On March 8, 2012, plaintiff moved to vacate and set aside the default judgment in the underlying unlawful detainer case. On May 7, 2012, the trial court granted the motion to vacate and set aside the default judgment after hearing sworn testimony from plaintiff and the process server, Allan Hanlon. The court ruled: “Having heard testimony concerning service of the Summons and Complaint from the registered process server and from defendant, the court grants defendant’s motion based upon the relative credibility of the witnesses. [¶] Since defendant was never actually served, the court finds that the judgment is void under [Code of Civil Procedure] 473(d).” On August 23, 2012, plaintiff renewed her motion for a preliminary injunction reinstating her tenancy at the Huntington Hotel. On September 17, 2012, the trial court granted plaintiff’s motion for preliminary injunction. In its minute order, the trial court ruled: “The Court finds that Plaintiff’s evidence is credible and sufficient to establish that Plaintiff was turned out from her apartment under the authority of a writ of execution Defendants knew to be based on false proofs of service. On these grounds, Plaintiff has established the likelihood of her success on the merit at trial on her claims for forcible entry and forcible detainer. [¶] With respect to the balance of the harm to the parties in