Case Number: BC502210 Hearing Date: June 25, 2014 Dept: 34

BACKGROUND:

Plaintiff commenced this action on 3/6/13 against defendant Swiss Equity Partners for breach of contract. Defaulting defendant Stewart was added as Doe 1 on 3/20/13. Plaintiff alleges that on 6/4/12 it entered into a Staples Center Premier Seat License Agreement with defendants. Defendants failed to pay an installment of the annual license fee pursuant to the agreement.

Default was entered as to Brandon Stewart on 3/13/14.

ANALYSIS:

The request for entry of default judgment is DENIED. Plaintiff did not request damages in the correct amount demanded in the complaint, improperly calculated compounded interest, improperly calculated attorney’s fees using the incorrect damages and interest amounts, and failed to provide a declaration and proposed order as to the copy of the agreement.

If the court were to grant Entry of Default Judgment, it would do so as indicated below:

Principal $209,235.00
Costs
Interest $34,796.07
Attorney’s Fees $3,982.35

TOTAL JUDGMENT $248,013.42

Notes:

Principal:

· Plaintiff requests principal in the amount of $290,235. However the complaint only prays for $209,235. (Relief afforded in default judgment is limited to type and amount of claims in complaint, except for punitives and PI/death. CCP §§ 425.11, 580, 585(a)(b). The amount in the complaint prayer controls (National Diversified Services, Inc. v. Bernstein (1985) 168 Cal.3d 410, 418).)

Interest:

· The interest is to be charged at a rate of 10% per annum. (See Rigali Decl., ¶ 5.) It appears that plaintiff has improperly calculated compounded interest. (See id., ¶ 6.) For example, the amount of interest for the period from 7/2/12 through 8/1/12 is calculated based on $16,425.00, which presumably includes the 6/4/12 and 7/1/12 payments. (See Cockrell Decl., ¶ 6.) However, the interest on the 6/4/12 payment was separately calculated. (See Rigali Decl., ¶ 6.) Similarly, Rigali calculates interest on the entire $209,235.00 due, but also separately calculates interest on the first three payments. (See ibid.) This means that the total amount of interest includes compounded interest for the first three months. Plaintiff does not point to a provision in the agreement for compounded interest.

· The Court would grant interest at the rate of 10% on the principal of $209,235 from August 29, 2012 through April 28, 2014, which equals $34,796.07.

Attorneys fees:

· The attorneys fees are inflated, as they apparently were based on principal of $290,235. The correct amount of attorneys fees would be $3,982.35.

However, plaintiff failed to provide a declaration and proposed order as to the copy of the agreement.

Therefore, the Court will DENY the request for Entry of Default Judgment. Plaintiff may re-submit a corrected default package.