18-UDU-00644 EQUITY ADVANTAGE, INC. VS. RUBEN SALVATIERRA, ET AL.

EQUITY ADVANTAGE, INC. RUBEN SALVATIERRA
MICHELLE LEU ZACCONE PETER L. BALOGH

RUBEN SALVATIERRA’S DEMURRER TO THE COMPLAINT OF PLAINTIFF EQUITY ADVANTAGE, INC. TENTATIVE RULING:

Defendant RUBEN SALVATIERRA’s Demurrer to Complaint is OVERRULED. Plaintiff has sufficiently stated a cause of action for unlawful detainer. Defendant shall file an answer to the complaint on or before August 31, 2018.

A demurrer is used to challenge defects that appear on the face of the pleading, or from matters outside the pleading that are judicially noticeable. Blank v. Kirwan (1985) 39 C3d 311, 318; Weil & Brown, Cal. Practice Guide: Civil Procedure Before Trial (The Rutter Group 2016), Ch. 7, § 7:7.8. When considering a demurrer, all facts pleaded in the complaint are assumed to be true. Weil & Brown, supra, Ch. 7, § 7:5. On demurrer, the court can also consider facts appearing in exhibits attached to the complaint. Picton v. Anderson Union High School Dist. (1996) 50 Cal.App.4th 726.

Here, Plaintiff has sufficiently pled facts supporting its action for unlawful detainer. The Complaint identifies the subject property, the amount of monthly rent, the type of notices served, and the amount owed. Plaintiff served Defendant with both a Three-Day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit, addressing Defendant’s past-due rent amount of $78,000, as well as a Three-Day Notice to Quit, addressing Defendant’s alleged failure to comply with the City of Pacifica’s legal requirements for operating a marijuana dispensary. The Notices are attached to the Complaint as Exhibits A and B.

The Complaint alleges that the Notices were served on Defendant on July 5, 2018, and that Defendant was required to comply no later than July 9, 2018. Defendant neither paid the past-due rent nor surrendered possession of the premises; thus, a cause of action for unlawful detainer is sufficiently stated. Defendant does not provide any legal basis to support his demurrer; his denial as to the accuracy of the factual allegations are not relevant to a demurrer; and accordingly it is overruled.