Goens v. Blood

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. California
DecidedJanuary 31, 2020
Docket3:19-cv-02299
StatusUnknown

This text of Goens v. Blood (Goens v. Blood) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Goens v. Blood, (S.D. Cal. 2020).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 11 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 12 13 JOSHUA GOENS, an individual, Case No.: 19-CV-02299 W (KSC)

14 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS’ 15 v. MOTION TO EXPUNGE LIS PENDENS AND FOR AWARD OF 16 VICTORIA BLOOD et al., ATTORNEY’S FEES AND COSTS 17 Defendants. [DOC. 13] 18 19 20 Pending before this Court is a motion to expunge a lis pendens and for an award of 21 attorney’s fees and costs filed by Defendants Victoria L. Blood and Vondell M. Forrester, 22 each individually and as co-trustees of The Nathan A. Blood 1992 Trust. Plaintiff Joshua 23 Goens opposes. 24 The Court finds the matter is appropriate for decision on the papers submitted and 25 without oral argument. See Civ.L.R. 7.1d1. For the following reasons, the Court 26 GRANTS Defendant’s motion to expunge Lis Pendens #1 and Lis Pendens #2 [Doc. 13] 27 and AWARDS attorney’s fees in the amount of $3,300. 28 1 I. INTRODUCTION 2 On June 1, 2018, Plaintiff Joshua Goens entered into a lease agreement for 3 commercial property located at 5909 Mission Gorge Road in San Diego, California. 4 (FAC [Doc. 3] ¶ 11.) The property, along with 5901 and 5913 Mission Gorge Road, are 5 owned by Defendants Victoria L. Blood and Vondell M. Forrester, as co-trustees of The 6 Nathan A. Blood 1992 Trust (the “Trust”). (Id. ¶¶ 8, 13.) 7 In January 2019, Goens raised concerns with the Trust about the dilapidated 8 condition of the property. (FAC ¶¶ 15, 16.) Specifically, Goens raised issues about 9 “unsafe working conditions, mold remediation, and interior and exterior dilapidation.” 10 (Id. ¶ 17.) Goens spent “a great amount of time, energy and effort” remedying the 11 problems. (Id. ¶ 18.) And in the months that followed, Defendants elicited his help 12 evicting the previous master lessor who had caused problems at the property. (Id. ¶ 20.) 13 Defendants also began talking to and treating Goens as if he were the property manager 14 of 5901, 5909 and 5913 Mission Gorge Road (collectively referred to as, the “Subject 15 Property”). (Id. ¶¶ 21–24.) 16 On June 1, 2019, Goens and Defendants entered a second Commercial Lease 17 Agreement for 5909 (“Lease #1”) for a term of two years. (FAC ¶¶ 25, 26.) Goens 18 contends that before entering the agreement, the parties had many discussions regarding 19 the property. (Id. ¶ 27.) According to Goens, there was also “a mutual oral agreement 20 that [Goens] would be the master lessor of the Subject Property, and in time, obtain the 21 lease to all three properties owned by Defendant: 5901, 5909, and 5913 Mission Gorge 22 Road, San Diego, California, 92120.” (Id. ¶ 28.) Additionally, before entering Lease #1, 23 Defendants informed Goens that the “Subject Property was listed for sale, but expressly 24 stated that ‘it would not be sold, because it had been on and off the market for the past 25 five years” and that “the sale of the property ‘would not interfere with [Plaintiff’s] lease 26 term.’” (Id. ¶¶ 29, 30.) 27 On August 1, 2019, Goens and Defendants entered a Commercial Lease 28 Agreement for 5901 Mission Gorge Road (“Lease #2”). (FAC ¶ 36.) Although the 1 parties never entered a lease for 5913 Mission Gorge Road, Goens acted as the property 2 manager for the entire Subject Property. (Id. ¶¶ 37, 38.) 3 In approximately September 26, 2019, Goens became aware of a potential buyer 4 for the Subject Property. (FAC ¶ 39.) Goens’ attorney contacted Defendants’ attorney to 5 discuss “various issues at the Subject Property, including but not limited to, Defendants’ 6 representations regarding the sale of the Subject Property and potential settlement of any 7 claims.” (Id. 40.) Discussions were unsuccessful, and on November 1, 2019, Goens 8 received a 60-day Notice to Quit for 5909 Mission Gorge Road. (Id. ¶¶ 41, 42.) 9 On December 3, 2019, Goens filed this lawsuit. (See Compl. [Doc. 1].) The FAC 10 alleges sixteen causes of action: (1) breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair 11 dealing; (2) negligent misrepresentation; (3) intentional misrepresentation; (4) promissory 12 estoppel; (5) unjust enrichment; (6) unfair business practices; (7) failure to pay minimum 13 wage; (8) failure to reimburse business expenses; (9) intentional interference with 14 contractual relations; (10) intentional interference with prospective economic relations; 15 (11) defamation – slander per se; (12) defamation – slander per quod; (13) intentional 16 infliction of emotional distress; (14) injunctive relief; (15) injunctive relief; and (16) 17 reformation. (See FAC.) Causes of action one through thirteen seek monetary damages. 18 (Id.) The fourteenth cause of action appears to seek an injunction preventing Defendants 19 from breaching Lease #1 and Lease #2. (Id. ¶¶ 181–186.) The fifteenth cause of action 20 seeks an injunction preventing Goens from losing possession of the Subject Property, and 21 the sixteenth cause of action seeks reformation of Lease #1 and Lease #2 to conform to 22 “the representations made by Defendants, stating that the Subject Property will not be 23 sold during Plaintiff’s term of lease.” (Id. ¶¶ 187–204.) 24 On December 13, 2019, Goens recorded a Notice of Pendency of Action, 25 Document Number 2019-0582227 of the Official Records of San Diego County (“Lis 26 Pendens #1), and on December 18, 2019, Goens recorded a second Notice of Pendency of 27 Action, Document Number 2019-0592937 of the Official Records of San Diego County 28 for the Subject Property (“Lis Pendens #2”). Defendants now move to expunge the lis 1 pendens under California Code of Civil Procedure §§ 405.31 and §405.32, and for 2 payment of attorneys’ fees related to the motion. Goens opposes the motion. 3 4 II. STANDARD 5 California Code of Civil Procedure § 405.20 provides that a “party to an action 6 who asserts a real property claim may record a notice of pendency of action, in which the 7 real property claim is alleged.” A “‘[r]eal property claim’ means the cause or causes of 8 action in a pleading, which would, if meritorious, affect (a) title to, or the right to 9 possession of, specific real property....” Code Civ. Proc. § 405.4. 10 A party seeking to expunge a lis pendens may move under Code of Civil Procedure 11 § 405.31 or § 405.32. Under section 405.31, “the court shall order the notice expunged if 12 the court finds that the pleading on which the notice is based does not contain a real 13 property claim.” The analysis under this section is “analogous to, but more limited than, 14 the analysis undertaken by a court on a demurrer. Rather than analyzing whether the 15 pleading states any claim at all, as on a general demurrer, the court must undertake the 16 more limited analysis of whether the pleading states a real property claim.” BGJ 17 Associates, LLC v. Superior Court, 75 Cal. App. 4th 952, 956 (1999) (quoting comments 18 in Deering’s and West’s Annotated California Codes (hereinafter “Comment”) to § 19 405.31). 20 Section 405.32 in contrast provides that “the court shall order the notice be 21 expunged if the court finds that the claimant has not established by a preponderance of 22 the evidence the probable validity of the real property claim.” Under this section, 23 evidence is used to determine “the probability the proponent will be able to establish a 24 valid real property claim.” BGJ Associates, LLC, 75 Cal.App.4th at 956–957 (quoting 25 Comment to 405.32). “Probable validity” of a claim means that it is more likely than not 26 27 28 1 that the claimant will obtain a judgment against the Defendant on the claim. Code Civ. 2 Proc. 405.3. 3 4 III. ANALYSIS 5 A. Under existing California law, Goens is not entitled to maintain the lis 6 pendens. 7 Goens contends the FAC alleges a real property claim because a “leasehold is an 8 estate in real property and falls within the purview of an action concerning real property 9 or affecting the title to, or the right of possession over the real property.” (Opp’n [Doc.

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Goens v. Blood, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/goens-v-blood-casd-2020.