City of Ontario v. We Buy Houses Any Condition

Filed 7/19/24; Certified for Publication 7/31/24 (order attached)

COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

CITY OF ONTARIO, D083080

Plaintiff and Appellant,

v. (Super. Ct. No. CIVSB2111984)

WE BUY HOUSES ANY CONDITION,

LLC,

Defendant and Respondent.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of San Bernardino County, Khymberli S. Y. Apaloo, Judge. Affirmed. Best & Krieger, Mark A. Easter and Guillermo A. Frias for Plaintiff and Appellant. Palmieri, Hennessey & Leifer, Patrick A. Hennessy and Erin B. Naderi for Defendant and Respondent. Plaintiff City of Ontario (the City) filed this eminent domain action to obtain properties owned by We Buy Houses Any Condition, LLC (We Buy Houses). The trial court granted summary judgment against the City, finding it had not articulated a “proposed project” as required to exercise its power of eminent domain. The court then granted We Buy Houses’s request for attorney fees, making certain reductions to the requested amounts. The City appeals, contending that the trial court erred by requiring it to identify a particular project. We find the City’s arguments…