Los Angeles County Attorney for Injury, Surplus Funds, Eviction, and Estate Matters

Los Angeles County is home to close to ten million people, a Registrar-Recorder that handles an enormous volume of property filings, and dozens of courthouses spread across the Valley, the Westside, the South Bay, the San Gabriel Valley, and the Antelope Valley. Fred Yadegar, a Los Angeles County attorney licensed by the State Bar of California since 2006 (#244184), handles injury, surplus funds, eviction defense, wills and trusts, and contract matters for clients in every part of it.

Where Los Angeles County cases are heard

The county’s superior court is organized by district. Unlimited civil injury cases and probate matters run through the Stanley Mosk Courthouse downtown. Unlawful detainer and limited civil cases are assigned to the district courthouse serving the property, which may be Van Nuys, Pasadena, Long Beach, Torrance, Compton, Norwalk, Santa Monica, Inglewood, Pomona, or Lancaster. Recorded documents, including the Notice of Trustee’s Sale and the Trustee’s Deed Upon Sale that a surplus-funds claim depends on, are kept by the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk in Norwalk. Knowing which building a case belongs in sounds minor until a filing goes to the wrong one while the clock keeps running.

After a crash on a Los Angeles freeway

The 405 through the Sepulveda Pass, the 101 across the Valley, the 10 through downtown, and the 110 toward the harbor produce a large share of the county’s injury claims, and surface streets such as Wilshire and Vermont produce many of its pedestrian cases. Rideshare collisions cluster around LAX and the Westside. Most injury claims must be filed within two years of the injury (Code Civ. Proc. §335.1). When a Metro bus, a city or county vehicle, or a broken public sidewalk is involved, a written government claim is due within six months (Gov. Code §911.2), and Los Angeles has an unusual number of public entities to choose from: the City, the County, Metro, LAUSD, and dozens of incorporated cities. The office identifies the responsible entity early so the claim goes to the right one. The car accident pages explain how those claims work. Injury matters are handled on contingency. If you don’t get paid, we don’t get paid.

When a Los Angeles home sells at a trustee’s sale

Home values across the county mean that a trustee’s sale often brings in more than the debt, and the difference belongs to the former owner or the heirs after the costs of sale and junior liens are paid in order of priority (Civ. Code §2924k). The trustee mails one notice, frequently to the foreclosed address, and the written claim is due within 30 days of that mailing (Civ. Code §2924j). Second mortgages, HELOCs, HOA liens, and judgment creditors line up for the same money, and when the trustee cannot sort out who is owed what, the funds are deposited with the Los Angeles Superior Court for a judge to decide. Fred prepares the claim, disputes liens that lack priority, and appears at the hearing. The surplus funds recovery pages cover the process step by step.

Eviction notices inside and outside the City of Los Angeles

An unlawful detainer summons gives a tenant 10 court days to file a written response (Code Civ. Proc. §1167), and that deadline is the same at every courthouse in the county. What differs is the local law. Within the City of Los Angeles, the Rent Stabilization Ordinance and a citywide just-cause ordinance add notice, relocation, and defense rules that landlords frequently get wrong, and Santa Monica, West Hollywood, Pasadena, Glendale, and Inglewood each have ordinances of their own. Outside those cities the statewide Tenant Protection Act still covers most tenancies past twelve months (Civ. Code §1946.2). A former owner still living in a foreclosed home must receive a 3-day notice to quit before any lawsuit (Code Civ. Proc. §1161a). Fred checks the ordinance for the exact address before the response is filed. Start with eviction defense.

Estates and contracts in Los Angeles County

Probate in Los Angeles County is heard at Stanley Mosk, and a typical probate runs nine to eighteen months, with statutory attorney and executor fees calculated on the gross value of the estate, mortgage included (Prob. Code §10810). For a family whose main asset is a house, that arithmetic is the strongest argument for a funded living trust. Contract disputes, from unpaid invoices in the Garment District to contractor fights in the Valley and real estate deals that fell apart in the South Bay, are filed in small claims for amounts up to $12,500 for individuals (Code Civ. Proc. §116.221), limited civil up to $35,000, or unlimited civil above that.

Communities across the county

The office serves every city and unincorporated area in Los Angeles County. That includes Los Angeles itself and the San Fernando Valley communities of Van Nuys, Burbank, Glendale, and Santa Clarita; Pasadena, El Monte, West Covina, and Pomona in the San Gabriel Valley; Santa Monica, Culver City, and Inglewood on the Westside; Torrance and Long Beach in the South Bay and Harbor area; Downey, Norwalk, Whittier, and Compton among the Gateway cities; and Lancaster and Palmdale in the Antelope Valley. Orange County clients are served on the same terms; see the Orange County page.