Hedwall v. PCMV, LLC

• Decision Date: 19 April 2018
• Docket Number: B282111
• Citation: 231 Cal.Rptr.3d 560,22 Cal.App.5th 564
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
• Parties: Laine HEDWALL, Cross-complainant and Appellant. v. PCMV, LLC et al., Cross-defendants and Respondents.

22 Cal.App.5th 564

231 Cal.Rptr.3d 560

Laine HEDWALL, Cross-complainant and Appellant.

v.PCMV, LLC et al., Cross-defendants and Respondents.

B282111

Court of Appeal, Second District, Division 4, California.

Filed April 19, 2018

As Modified April 26, 2018

Laine Hedwall, in pro. per., for Cross-complainant and Appellant.

Hunton & Williams, Alexandrea H. Young and Andrew J. Peterson, Los Angeles for Cross-defendant and Respondent CF Valencia Arcis LLC.

Stream Kim Hicks Wrage & Alfaro; Gresham, Savage, Nolan & Tilden, Robert J. Hicks and Andrea Rodriguez, Riverside for Cross-defendant and Respondent CLP Valencia Golf.

MANELLA, J.

In the underlying action, appellant Laine Hedwall filed a cross-complaint against respondent CLP Valencia Golf, LLC, formerly known as CNL Income Valencia LLC (CLP), respondent CF Valencia Arcis, LLC (Arcis), and PCMV, LLC, doing business as Valencia Country Club (PCMV), asserting claims for breach of contract, fraud, declaratory relief, and related causes of action. When the trial court sustained CLP's demurrer to the cross-complaint with leave to amend, Hedwall filed a first amended cross-complaint (FACC). CLP then demurred to all but one of the claims against it in the FACC. While CLP's demurrer to the FACC was pending, and without seeking leave of the trial court, Hedwall filed a second amended cross-complaint (SACC). The trial court "canceled" the filing of the SACC on its own motion, sustained CLP's demurrer to the FACC without leave to amend, and later granted judgment on the pleadings in CLP's favor on Hedwall's sole remaining claim against CLP. After Hedwall noticed this appeal, the trial court denied his request for an order staying the proceedings relating to Arcis and PCMV.

Hedwall challenges the rulings canceling the filing of the SACC, denying leave to amend the FACC, and denying the requested stay. We reject his contentions and affirm.

RELEVANT FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In February 2015, PCMV commenced the underlying action, asserting a single claim against Hedwall for an open book account. PCMV sought $4,218.84 in damages plus interest.

Hedwall's original cross-complaint, filed March 25, 2015, contained claims against PCMV, CLP, Arcis, and other parties for declaratory relief, breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, fraud, unfair business practices ( Bus. & Prof. Code, § 17200 et seq. ), and intentional interference with contractual relations. Hedwall requested $70,000 in compensatory damages, prejudgment interest, and punitive damages.

The cross-complaint alleged the following facts: Hedwall is among the best golfers in the United States. In 2004, he decided to join the Valencia Country Club—then owned and managed by the Heritage Golf Group—due to its excellent fairways and greens. In March 2004, Hedwall and the club's manager entered into an oral agreement under which Hedwall was to receive a full refund of his $70,000 membership fee if the golf course ever fell below the then-existing standards. At some point, CLP bought the club, and in January 2012, CLP leased it to PCMV. During that lease, the club was managed by Foregolf Partners, LLC (Foregolf). In August 2014, Foregolf and PCMV breached Hedwall's membership agreement by permitting the golf course to deteriorate. Hedwall told them that in view of that breach, he would pay no monthly dues until the golf course was restored to an acceptable level. In November 2014, Arcis acquired the club. Later, PCMV asserted its claim against Hedwall for unpaid monthly dues.

CLP demurred to the cross-complaint, contending the claims against it failed because the alleged misconduct was attributed solely to Foregolf and PCMV. Following a hearing, the trial court sustained CLP's demurrer with leave to amend, noting that nothing in the cross-complaint showed that CLP had committed any wrongful conduct.¹

In December 2015, Hedwall filed the FACC, which, in addition to the claims previously alleged, included new claims for conversion and declaratory relief. CLP demurred to the FACC's claims, with the exception of a single claim for declaratory relief, contending the FACC assigned no specific wrongful conduct to CLP. Noting the FACC's allegation that CLP "performed [its] duties under the agreement between the parties, despite there being no signed membership agreement," CLP argued that Hedwall was "seeking to hold [it] liable for wrongful conduct ... perpetrated by other parties without alleging how that wrongful conduct is attributable to CLP."

Arcis and PCMV also asserted demurrers to the FACC. Like CLP, Arcis contended the claims against it failed—with the exception of a single claim for declaratory relief—because no misconduct was alleged against it. PCMV challenged only some of the claims against it, namely, those for fraud, unfair business practices, and intentional interference with contractual relations.

While the demurrers to the FACC were pending, Hedwall filed the SACC without leave of the trial court. In March 2016, at the hearing on PCMV's demurrer, the trial court "canceled" the filing of the SACC on its own motion, stating that "there was no stipulation among the parties or court order allowing for such filing." The court further sustained PCMV's demurrer to the FACC without leave to amend. Later, in August 2016, the court sustained CLP's and Arcis's demurrers to the FACC without leave to amend, concluding that the FACC alleged no misconduct attributable to CLP or Arcis.

In January 2017, CLP sought judgment on the pleadings regarding the FACC's remaining claim against it for declaratory relief. CLP contended the claim was moot, because the FACC alleged that CLP no longer owned the club. On March 14, 2017, following a hearing, the trial court granted judgment on the pleadings with respect to the declaratory relief claim without leave to amend.

On March 27, 2017, Hedwall noticed this appeal. Following the filing of the notice of appeal, Arcis and PCMV sought summary judgment and judgment on the pleadings regarding the FACC's remaining claims against them. Hedwall requested an order staying all proceedings under Code of Civil Procedure section 916 due to his pending appeal, which the trial court denied.

DISCUSSION

Appellant contends the trial court erred in canceling the filing of the SACC, denying leave to amend the FACC, and denying the requested stay. As explained below, we reject his contentions regarding the SACC and the FACC. We further conclude that his challenge to the denial of the stay is not properly before us.

A. Scope of Review

At the outset, we examine the scope of our review of the trial court's rulings. Generally, "[a]n appealable judgment or order is a jurisdictional prequisite to an appeal. [Citations.]" ( Connell v. Superior Court (1997) 59 Cal.App.4th 382, 392, 69 Cal.Rptr.2d 231.) Here, Hedwall's March 27, 2017 notice of appeal states that the appeal was taken from an undated and unspecified judgment of dismissal; his opening brief further states that the appeal was taken from a judgment in CLP's favor.

The record that Hedwall has provided contains no such judgment. Under the " ‘one final judgment’ " rule, an appeal cannot be taken from a judgment that fails to resolve to finality all the causes of action pending between the parties. ( Hill v. City of Clovis (1998) 63 Cal.App.4th 434, 442-443, 73 Cal.Rptr.2d 638.) The cancellation of the filing of the SACC, by itself, did not resolve Hedwall's claims against CLP in the FACC; further-more, the rulings in CLP's favor on its demurrer to the FACC and motion for judgment on the pleadings are not appealable orders ( Hill v. City of Long Beach (1995) 33 Cal.App.4th 1684, 1695, 40 Cal.Rptr.2d 125 ; Ellerbee v. County of Los Angeles (2010) 187 Cal.App.4th 1206, 1212-1213, 114 Cal.Rptr.3d 756 ). Although Hedwall's brief refers to a March 31, 2017 order of dismissal in CLP's favor, the record discloses only a "Notice of Entry of Judgment on the Pleadings" filed by CLP on that date, stating that due to the grant of judgment on the pleadings, "there remain[ ] no further causes of action against ... [CLP]." There is thus no appealable judgment in favor of CLP.

Under the circumstances, it is appropriate to amend the rulings to include such a judgment, rather than dismiss the appeal. (See Estate of Dito (2011) 198 Cal.App.4th 791,799-800, 130 Cal.Rptr.3d 279.) The rulings on the SACC and FACC effectively ended Hedwall's litigation against CLP, which has not been prejudiced by his failure to secure an appealable judgment, as it has fully briefed his challenges to those rulings. Accordingly, in the interest of judicial economy, we deem the rulings to incorporate a judgment of dismissal in favor of CLP, for purposes of Hedwall's notice of appeal. For that reason, Hedwall's challenges to the rulings on the SACC and the FACC, insofar as they relate to CLP, are properly before us.

The scope of Hedwall's appeal is nonetheless subject to certain limitations. Ordinarily, orders rendered after the judgment or order from which an appeal is noticed do not fall within the scope of that appeal. (See Lakin v. Watkins Associated Industries (1993) 6 Cal.4th 644, 651, 25 Cal.Rptr.2d 109, 863 P.2d 179 ; 9 Witkin, Cal. Procedure (5th ed. 2008) Appeal, § 180, p. 256.) Accordingly, our decision to incorporate a judgment in favor of CLP establishes no corollary judgment in favor of Arcis or PCMV, as the trial court's rulings on their demurrers to the FACC did not resolve all of Hedwall's claims against them prior to this appeal. Furthermore, our decision to incorporate a judgment in favor of CLP does not expand the scope of Hedwall's appeal to encompass the denial of the requested order under Code of Civil Procedure section 916, which occurred after the rulings on the SACC and FACC.²

Although orders relating to the enforcement of a judgment subject to an appeal are themselves generally independently appealable (see Williams v. Thomas (1980) 108 Cal.App.3d 81,...