Oscar Ramos v. Baja Cali Inc., et al.

Summary

The United States District Court for the Northern District of California denied without prejudice Plaintiff Oscar Ramos's application to serve the summons and complaint by publication on Gerasimos Georgopoulos and Gerasimoula Georgopoulos. The court held that the submitted declarations did not establish reasonable diligence under California Code of Civil Procedure section 415.50 and directed Plaintiff to provide additional information regarding alternative addresses and the proposed publication.

Holdings

1. Plaintiff sufficiently established the existence of a cause of action because the complaint alleged that the Georgopoulos defendants owned the real property on which the alleged Americans with Disabilities Act violation occurred.
2. Plaintiff did not establish reasonable diligence under California Code of Civil Procedure section 415.50 because the declarations did not state whether searches revealed alternative addresses or whether additional attempts were made at any such addresses.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Plaintiff established under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(e)(1) and California Code of Civil Procedure section 415.50 that the Georgopoulos defendants could not be served with reasonable diligence in another authorized manner.
2. Whether Plaintiff sufficiently established that a cause of action existed against the Georgopoulos defendants for purposes of service by publication.

Disposition

other