STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY VS DYLAN LEE GENE SAMPSEL

Tentative Rulings

Case Number: 19STLC03151    Hearing Date: March 10, 2021    Dept: 26

State Farm v. Sampsel., et al.

MOTION TO DEEM REQUESTS FOR ADMISSION ADMITTED

(CCP § 2033.280)

TENTATIVE RULING:

Plaintiff State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company’s Motion to Deem Requests for Admission Admitted Against Defendant Dylan Lee Gene Sampsel and Request for Sanctions is DENIED AS TO REQUEST NOS. 2-9 AND GRANTED AS TO REQUEST NO. 1. THE REQUEST FOR SANCTIONS IS GRANTED.

ANALYSIS:

Plaintiff State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (“Plaintiff”) served Requests for Admissions on Defendant Dylan Lee Gene Samsel (“Defendant”) on March 20, 2020. (Motion, Reese Decl., Exh. A.) Following multiple extensions of the time to respond, Defendant served unverified responses on June 24, 2020. (Id. at ¶¶5-6.) Plaintiff’s counsel sought to meet and confer again but, to date, no verified responses have been served. (Id. at ¶7-8 and Exh. B.)

Plaintiff filed the instant Motion to Deem Requests for Admission Admitted and Request for Sanctions on January 15, 2021. Defendant filed an opposition on February 25, 2021 and Plaintiff replied on March 3, 2021.

Discussion

Plaintiff moves pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 2033.280, which mandates that “[i]f a party to whom requests for admission are directed fails to serve a timely response” the propounding party may move for an “order that the genuineness of any documents and the truth of any matters specified in the requests be deemed admitted.” (Code Civ. Proc., § 2033.280, subd. (b).) The Court must enter the order unless “the party to whom the requests for admission have been directed has served, before the hearing on the motion, a proposed response to the requests for admission that is in substantial compliance with Section 2033.220.” (Code Civ. Proc., § 2033.280, subd. (c).)

Plaintiff contends that the responses served on June 24, 2020 were unverified and tantamount to no response at all. (Citing Appleton v. Superior Court (1988) 206 Cal.App.3d 632, 636.) Defendant argues in opposition that response Nos. 2-9 were “hybrid” or full objection responses for which the objection portion need not be verified. Responses Nos. 2-9 served by Defendant were in fact hybrid responses; only response No. 1 was an unverified admission. (Opp., Patel Decl., Exh. A.)

“Hybrid” responses, which contain both an objection and fact-based statement, do not need a verification as to the objection portion. (Food 4 Less Supermarkets, Inc. v. Superior Court (1995) 40 Cal.App.4th 651, 657-658.) Similarly, a response that contains only objections does not need a verification. (Id. at 656; Code Civ. Proc., § 2033.240, subd. (a).) While the factual statements in the responses are essentially non-responses because they are not verified, the objections are valid responses and require no verification. Therefore, Defendant did timely serve responses to Requests for Admission, Nos. 2-9. Only the response to Request No. 1 was “tantamount to no response at all.” (Appleton, supra, 206 Cal.App.3d 636.)

Therefore, Plaintiff is entitled to an order deeming the Requests for Admission admitted as to Request No. 1. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2033.280.) Additionally, sanctions are required under Code of Civil Procedure sections 2033.280, and have been properly noticed against Defendant Dylan Gene Sampsel in the amount of $460. (Motion, Reese Decl., ¶¶9-11.)

Based on the foregoing, Plaintiff State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company’s Motion to Deem Requests for Admission Admitted and Request for Sanctions Against Defendant Dylan Lee Gene Sampsel is DENIED AS TO REQUEST NOS. 2-9 AND GRANTED AS TO REQUEST NO. 1. THE REQUEST FOR SANCTIONS IS GRANTED which are to be paid within 30 days of service of this order to Plaintiff.

Plaintiff to give notice.