State ex rel. Metz v. Ccc

Citation149 Cal.App.4th 402,57 Cal.Rptr.3d 156
Decision Date05 April 2007
Docket NumberNo. B188720.,B188720.
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeals
PartiesThe STATE of California ex rel. John METZ, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. CCC INFORMATION SERVICES, INC., Defendant and Respondent.

Turner, San Francisco, for Plaintiff and Appellant.

Latham & Watkins LLP, Patrick E. Gibbs, Menlo Park, Randall T. Kim and Brian D. Berry, San Francisco, for Defendant and Respondent.

KRIEGLER, J.

This appeal arises out of a qui tam action filed by plaintiff and appellant John Metz on behalf of the State of California, alleging defendant and respondent CCC Information Services, Inc. violated Insurance Code section 1871.71 by making false or misleading statements in connection with the settlement of Metz's 1999 automobile insurance claim under a policy issued by Farmers Insurance Company, following an accident in which Metz's 1992 Mitsubishi Galant suffered a total loss. As more fully explained below, the statements at issue consisted of the "comparable automobile" valuations CCC provided to Farmers in the claim settlement process—valuations Metz contends were made in violation of applicable regulations and designed to induce a fraudulently low insurance settlement, one that failed to adequately compensate for a total loss.

The trial court entered judgment in favor of CCC after sustaining a demurrer to Metz's first amended complaint without leave to amend, finding the action barred by the applicable three-year statute of limitations and, alternatively, by section 1871.7, subdivision (e)(5)'s requirement that only the district attorney or insurance commissioner may bring a related action based on the facts underlying a pending action. The trial court found that before Metz filed the underlying action against CCC, he had filed a prior qui tam action based on the same underlying facts against Farmers and others(the "Farmers action"),2 not including CCC, which was pending at the time of the demurrer.

Metz argues the trial court erred in sustaining the demurrer because he filed the complaint within three years of acquiring actual knowledge of all CCC's actionable conduct, and he alleged actionable statements by CCC made less than three years before filing the original complaint. Metz also argues his allegation of an ongoing conspiracy sufficed to defer the running of the statute of limitations. As to the trial court's alternative ground, Metz contends section 1871.7, subdivision (e)(5) does not bar the instant action because CCC was not a party to the Farmers action, and the instant action includes distinct allegations concerning CCC that were not part of the Farmers action. We hold that Metz's first amended complaint was time barred by section 1871.7's limitations period and its proscription against the filing of related actions by any person other than the district attorney or insurance commissioner.3 Accordingly, the judgment is affirmed.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Metz, as a qui tam relator on behalf of the State of California, filed the Farmers action on July 24, 2002, in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging Farmers and various related entities, along with two entities that provided Farmers with total loss valuations—Creative Automotive Consultants and B.I.D. Enterprises, Inc.—violated section 1871.7 by making false and misleading statements in connection with Metz's insurance claim for the 1999 total loss of his Galant.4 As in the instant action against CCC, Metz's sole cause of action against Farmers was under section 1871.7, based on the manner in which Farmers reached its total loss valuation for Metz's car: Metz alleged Farmers relied on false or misleading statements in the valuations provided by Creative Automotive Consultants, B.I.D. Enterprises, and CCC that were intended to unfairly reduce the claim value of the insured's loss. As noted, CCC was not named as a defendant in the Farmers action. On December 3, 2003, the trial court in the Farmers action found, among other things, that Metz stated a claim for relief under section 1871.7, but struck Metz's prayer for civil penalties. On March 10, 2004, the same court overruled a demurrer by the Farmers' entities, but granted in part those defendants' motion to strike portions of the second amended complaint.

On April 29, 2004, while the Farmers action was pending in Los Angeles Superior Court, Metz filed the original complaint against CCC in Alameda County. He filed the first amended complaint on November 4, 2004.5 On March 29, 2005, CCC's unopposed motion to transfer the CCC action to Los Angeles was granted, and the matter was assigned to the same judge who was presiding over the Farmers action.

CCC demurred to the first amended complaint and requested judicial notice of various pleadings and orders from the Farmers action, including Metz's second amended complaint, filed December 16, 2003. The trial court, having granted both parties' motions for judicial notice, granted CCC's demurrer on alternative grounds. It found the action time barred because the second amended complaint "conclusively shows that, by January 5, 2000, Mr. Metz had discovered facts to support his claim that CCC had provided a valuation `based on false information.' Mr. Metz'[s] CCC complaint was filed more than three years after this discovery and must be dismissed." The trial court also found as an alternative basis for its ruling that Metz's action against CCC was "based on the same facts underlying the Farmers action," which had been previously filed and was pending. As a result, the action against CCC was barred by section 1871.7, subdivision (e)(5)'s requirement that only the district attorney or insurance commissioner may bring a related action based on the facts underlying a pending action.

ALLEGATIONS IN THE RELEVANT PLEADINGS

In the sole cause of action of the first amended complaint in the CCC action, Metz alleged CCC violated section 1871.7, subdivision (b) by providing Farmers with a false and misleading valuation of Metz's 1992 Galant. More specifically, Metz alleged CCC used arbitrary and illegal criteria to improperly diminish the value for a replacement vehicle to compensate Metz for the total loss of his car under the Farmers policy. CCC concealed its improper valuation methodology and made misleading statements designed to induce him to settle for an amount below the full value of his insurance entitlement. Metz sought civil penalties for each of CCC's improper actions and an injunction to prevent it from engaging in such conduct in the future.

Metz further alleged he is a longtime consumer advocate in insurance-related matters. In 1996, he purchased an insurance policy from Farmers for his Galant. On October 4, 1999, within the period covered by that policy, Metz made a claim to Farmers for damages to his car. A Farmers' representative informed Metz on December 29, 1999, that his claim would be sent to CCC for a price valuation. The next day, the Farmers' representative told Metz that CCC made a $4,028 total loss valuation of Metz's car. In his CCC pleading, however, he included no factual allegations concerning the events of 2000. Instead, Metz made allegations concerning his investigation of CCC's valuation in 2001, during which time CCC made several statements concerning the manner in which it had reached its 1999 valuation of Metz's Galant. In May 2001, Metz requested CCC provide him with copies of the documents made in connection with its 1999 valuation. Metz spoke to a CCC representative on June 19, 2001, who arranged for Metz to receive such documents. Upon review, Metz found that CCC had discovered that the Galant had suffered a prior accident, but the documentation did not indicate that CCC investigated whether any of the comparable vehicles it used for its valuation had suffered accidents.

On July 3, 2001, another CCC representative provided Metz with additional documentation for its valuation. None of those documents reflected that CCC's investigation of the comparable vehicles included prior damage histories or mechanical evaluations. Two days later, the CCC representative told Metz that it used a "take price" in computing its valuations, whereby the car dealership with the comparable vehicle agreed to supply CCC with a formula to discount the vehicle's sticker price to reflect the price at which the car would actually be sold. When Metz attempted to verify the existence of such a "take price" formula, the two dealerships he contacted denied any such agreement with CCC. On July 9, 2001, the CCC representative maintained to Metz that it had "take price" agreements with each dealership it consulted, and denied that CCC selected comparable vehicles "at the lowest end of the price spectrum" in making its valuations.

In early August 2001, Metz requested that CCC provide him copies of the written agreements between CCC and the dealerships for determining the below-market-price valuations that the representative said were in CCC's possession. On August 8, 2001, the representative told Metz he was trying to locate that documentation and would respond as soon as he did. Metz never received a response. Finally, on February 27, 2004, a CCC representative told Metz that CCC does not investigate the damage history of the comparable vehicles used in making its valuations.

In contrast to the first amended complaint in the CCC action, the second amended complaint in the Farmers action contained detailed factual allegations concerning Metz's knowledge of CCC's valuation methodology as of 2000. According to the first amended complaint against Farmers, on December 30, 1999, a Farmers' representative told Metz the insurance company sought a valuation of Metz's damaged vehicle, not the cost of a replacement vehicle. On January 4, 2000, in an effort to reach a settlement, Metz supplied the insurer with information on improvements he had made to...

To continue reading

Request your trial
94 cases
  • San Mateo Union High Sch. Dist. v. Cnty. of San Mateo
    • United States
    • California Court of Appeals
    • 31 Enero 2013
    ......COUNTY OF SAN MATEO et al., Defendants and Respondents. . A134543 . COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT DIVISION ONE . Filed: January 31, 2013 CERTIFIED ... by the record whether or not relied upon by the trial court." ( State of California ex rel. Metz v. CCC Information Services, Inc. (2007) 149 Cal.App.4th 402, 412 [57 Cal.Rptr.3d 156].) ......
  • Ramos v. Brenntag Specialties, Inc.
    • United States
    • California Court of Appeals
    • 21 Marzo 2014
    ...... on the pleadings regarding the SAC with leave to amend, and advised appellants that to state causes of action, they must "plead around .. Artiglio, " as interpreted in Maxton. After ...( State of California ex rel. Metz v. CCC Information Services, Inc. (2007) 149 Cal.App.4th 402, 412, 57 Cal.Rptr.3d 156.) As ......
  • Baxter v. Cal. State Teachers' Ret. Sys., H042680
    • United States
    • California Court of Appeals
    • 12 Diciembre 2017
    ...... Antonioli (1994) 8 Cal.4th 791, 799, 35 Cal.Rptr.2d 418, 883 P.2d 960.) Pure legal questions include the interpretation of statutes ( People ex rel. Lockyer v. Shamrock Foods Co. (2000) 24 Cal.4th 415, 432, 101 Cal.Rptr.2d 200, 11 P.3d 956 ( Shamrock Foods )), California Rules of Court ( ...422-423, 42 Cal.Rptr.3d 807, quoting Debro , supra , 92 Cal.App.4th at p. 953, 112 Cal.Rptr.2d 329 ; see also State ex rel. Metz v. CCC Information Services, Inc. (2007) 149 Cal.App.4th 402, 415-417, 57 Cal.Rptr.3d 156 [ Ins. Code, § 1871.7 limitations period of "three years ......
  • Lauter v. Anoufrieva
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Central District of California
    • 14 Julio 2009
    ...the conspiracy (commission of the wrong acts), and the damage resulting from such acts. See State ex rel. Metz v. CCC Information Services, Inc., 149 Cal.App.4th 402, 419, 57 Cal.Rptr.3d 156 (2007); People v. Beaumont Inv., Ltd. ("Beaumont"), 111 Cal. App.4th 102, 137, 3 Cal.Rptr.3d 429 (20......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT