1 CENTRO MUNDIAL; PAULO ORTEGA aka PABLO ORTEGA.

4520 ½ ROSEMEAD BLVD.

2 PICO RIVERA, CA 90660
3
Respondent, In Pro Per
4

8 SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

9 FOR THE COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES
10

11
RUFINO LAUREANO, an individual; ) Case No.: 22NWCV00539
12 )
)
Plaintiff, )
13 DECLARATION OF PAULO ORTEGA
) aka PABLO ORTEGA IN SUPPORT OF
14 ) MOTION TO SET ASIDE;
vs. ) MEMORANDUN OF POINTS AND
15 ) AUTHORITIES.
)
16 )
CENTRO MUNDIAL; An Unknown Entity; ) )
17
PAULO ORTEGA aka PABLO ORTEGA, An ) DATE:
TIME:
18 Individual; and DOES 1 through 50, Inclusive; ) DEPT.:
)
19 Defendants. )
)
20 )
)
21

22
DECLARATION OF PAULO ORTEGA aka PABLO ORTEGA
23
I, Paulo Ortega aka Pablo Ortega, declare:
24

25 I am a party to this action. I submit this declaration in lieu of oral and request that the

26 court receive this declaration into evidence as my client testimony pursuant to California Code
27
of Civil Procedures Section 2009 and 2015, California Rules of Court, rules 3.31306(a) and
28
5.118(c), Reifler v. Superior Court (1974) 39 Cal. App. 3d 479, 114 Cal. Rptr. 356, and

DECLARATION OF PAULO ORTEGA aka PABLO ORTEGA IN SUPPORT OF MOTION TO SET ASIDE;
MEMORANDUN OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES.- 1
 1 Marriage of Stevenot (1984) 154 Cal. App. 3d 1051, 202 Cal. Rptr. 116. If called upon as a

2 witness, I could and would testify competently as to the truthfulness of the following facts all
3
of which are within my own personal knowledge of the facts stated herein.
4

5 I am requesting that the order/judgment entered on October 13, 2022 be set aside on the
6
following legal basis, and on the declaration attached to my Request for Order to Set Aside.
7

8 I submit this declaration in order to clarify the facts regarding the untimely filing of my
9 answer to the complaint.
10

11 On or about August 2022, I hired a person to help me with my legal procedures, this

12 person never explained to me what was going on my case nor did inform me that I had to
13
answer the Complaint filed by the Plaintiff, Rufino Laureano. I was ignorant of my entire
14
situation and what was going on in the case. I was informed sometime later that I had already
15

16
lost the time to answer. Regretfully, I have been harmed in this case against me due to my

17 misinformation and ignorance.

18
In the month of October 05, 2022, a Request for Entry of Default / Judgment was filed
19

20 by the plaintiff.

21
I immediately sought help, as the Default Judgment was due to a lack of knowledge and
22

23 ignorance of legal procedures on my part, very confused by everything, and only recently I

24 have been able to hire a paralegal to help me resolve these issues. Therefore, I have no choice
25
but to file this motion to vacate the judgment entered against me.
26

27

28

DECLARATION OF PAULO ORTEGA aka PABLO ORTEGA IN SUPPORT OF MOTION TO SET ASIDE;
MEMORANDUN OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES.- 2
 1 I respectfully request the court to excuse my ignorant mistake and set aside the default

2 judgment, allowing me to have my day in court. I am here to exercise my right to due process
3
to have the court hear my case in this department. I have attached a copy of the proposed
4
answer. I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the
5
foregoing is true and correct and that this declaration was executed on January 20, 2023.
6

7
MEMORANDUN OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES
8

9 THE JUDGMENT SHOULD BE VACATED FOR SURPRISE OR EXCUSABLE

10
NEGLECT.
11

12 The judgment should be vacated under the terms of Section 473(b) of the Code of Civil
13
Procedure. This provision of California law provides that, “the court may, upon any terms as
14
may be just, relieve a party...from a judgment, dismissal, order or other proceeding taken
15

16
against him or her through his or her mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect.”

17 Code Civ. Proc. § 473(b).

18
This section also applies to prove-up trials where the Defendant is not present. The
19

20 Supreme Court has explained: ‘ “A proceeding taken against [a party] in his absence is in the

21 nature of a default. The purpose of [section 594(a)]1 is to prevent the possibility of such default
22
being taken against one who has, by reason of insufficient notice or no notice of the time of
23
trial, been unable to appear.’” In re Marriage of Hock & Gordon-Hock, 80 Cal. App. 4th 1438,
24

25
1443-1444 (2000). “Because the law favors disposing of cases on their merits, ‘any doubts in

26 applying section 473 must be resolved in favor of the party seeking relief from default
27
[citations]. Therefore, a trial court order denying relief is scrutinized more carefully than an
28
order permitting trial on the merits.’ Fasuyi v. Permatex, Inc., 167 Cal. App. 4th 681, 696

DECLARATION OF PAULO ORTEGA aka PABLO ORTEGA IN SUPPORT OF MOTION TO SET ASIDE;
MEMORANDUN OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES.- 3
 1 (2008). The Supreme Court has recognized that if a defendant promptly seeks relief “ ‘very

2 slight evidence will be required to justify a court in setting aside the default.’ Id. Here, the
3
default was certainly due to Defendant’s mistake and ignorance of the law and lack of
4
knowledge of court procedures.
5

6
In or around August 2022, I hired a person to help me with my legal procedures, this
7
person never explained to me what was going on in my case nor did inform me that I had to
8
answer the Complaint filed by the Plaintiff, sometime later I was informed that I had already
9

10 missed the time to answer.

11
In the month of October 05, 2022, a Request for Entry of Default / Judgment was filed
12

13 by the plaintiff.

14
I immediately sought help, as the Default Judgment was due to lack of knowledge and
15

16
ignorance of legal procedures on my part, recently I have been able to hire a paralegal to help

17 me resolve these issues. I have never before participated in a case against me in court, so I
18 deeply apologize for any inconvenience caused and respectfully ask the court to forgive my
19
mistake.
20
I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the
21

22 foregoing is true and correct and that this declaration was executed on January 20, 2023, at Los

23 Angeles, California.
24
Respectfully submitted,
25

26
_______________________
27
PAULO ORTEGA aka PABLO ORTEGA
28 Defendant In Pro Per

DECLARATION OF PAULO ORTEGA aka PABLO ORTEGA IN SUPPORT OF MOTION TO SET ASIDE;
MEMORANDUN OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES.- 4
 1 PROOF OF SERVICE-§1013a CODE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE,
STATE OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES
2
I am employed in the county of Los Angeles, State of California. I am over the age of
3
18, my business address is: 2132. W. Temple Street, Los Angeles, CA 90026.
4
On January 20, 2023 I served the following document described as: DECLARATION OF
PAULO ORTEGA aka PABLO ORTEGA IN SUPPORT OF MOTION TO SET
5
ASIDE; MEMORANDUN OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES.
on interested parties in this action by placing a true and correct thereof enclosed in a sealed
6 envelope addressed as follows:
WALTER P. SAAVEDRA ESQ
7 LAW OFFICE OF WALTER SAAVEDRA
8
6443 FLORENCE AVE, SUITE A
BELL GARDENS, CA 90201
9

10
METHOD OF SERVICE
11
(X) BY MAIL: I deposited such envelope in the with the United States Postal Service with
12 the
postage fully prepaid in Los Angeles, California. I am aware that on motion of the party
13
served, service is presumed invalid if postal cancellation date of postage meter date is
14 more than one day after date of deposit for mailing in affidavit.

15 ( ) A COURTESY COPY WAS ALSO SENT

16
( ) BY FACSIMILE: By facsimile machine at ________________.
17 The facsimile machine I used complied with California Rules of Court, Rule
2003(3) and the transmission was reported as complete and without error.
18
(X) BY EMAIL: I caused the documents to be sent to the persons at the electronic
19
mail address at [email protected] My email is
20 [email protected]

21 ( ) BY PERSONAL SERVICE: I personally delivered such envelope by hand to

22
___________________________ on _____________, 2023 at _________ a.m./p.m. at
___________________________________, __________________, California.
23

24 (X) STATE: I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California
25
that the above is true and correct and that this declaration was executed in Los Angeles,
California on January 20, 2023.
26

27

28 ___________________________
Nancy Kee

PROOF OF SERVICE - 1