JOHN TAISIK AN VS YONG BAE PARK ET AL

Tentative Rulings

Case Number: ****2863    Hearing Date: July 13, 2020    Dept: 49

Hearing Date: July 13, 2020

Department 49, Judge Stuart M. Rice

(1) Defendant Yong Bae Park’s Motion to Set Aside Default and Default Judgment

Moving Party:  Defendant Yong Bae Park

Responding Party:      Plaintiff John An Taisik

Ruling: The motion to set aside the entry of default and default judgment is denied. 

The initial date scheduled for the hearing on this motion was August 20, 2019. On that date, the hearing was continued to October 7, 2019 because plaintiff had not been served with the motion. On October 7, 2019, the hearing was again continued, to January 14, 2020, to provide an opportunity for the substitution of a personal representative for defendant Yong Bae Park who died sometime after the initial hearing date of August 20, 2019. Due to the unavailability of a Korean interpreter on January 14, 2020, this matter was continued to March 12, 2020. Ultimately, the matter was continued to this date. Since October, no filings have been made except for declarations by pro per plaintiff John Taisik An, advocating for the denial of this motion. 

A judgment cannot be given for or against a decedent or his or her personal representative until the personal representative has been made a party by substitution. (Grappo v. McMills (2017) 11 Cal.App.5th 996, 1001-1009 see also Code Civ. Proc. ; 377.41.) Despite the ample time the court allowed for a personal representative to be substituted in on behalf of deceased defendant Park, no such substitution has occurred. Therefore, Park’s motion to vacate the default and default judgment against him is denied. Plaintiff is ordered to give notice of this ruling.