Fitting v. Kraaijvanger CA1/1
Soon after filing this harassment action against their landlord, plaintiffs were granted an order to preserve evidence, requiring the landlord to allow plaintiffs’ experts to inspect cameras maintained on the property. After the landlord’s attorney ignored the preservation order and plaintiffs’ repeated requests for compliance, the trial court awarded terminating sanctions and eventually entered a default judgment against defendant Paul Kraaijvanger on the basis of the sanctions. Kraaijvanger filed a motion to vacate the judgment under the mandatory relief provisions of Code of Civil Procedure section 473, accompanied by a declaration in which his attorney detailed her unjustified disregard for the preservation order. The trial court refused to grant mandatory relief from the default, concluding such relief is unavailable when the default is not entered by the court clerk. We reverse the ruling and vacate the default judgment.
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