Hurtado

On October 3, 1979, Gerardo Jiminez Hurtado sued for injunctive relief and damages based on defendants’ fraud in inducing him to enter into a secured loan transaction. The action remained essentially dormant from March 8, 1981, until December 8, 1983, when defendants successfully moved to dismiss under Code of Civil Procedure section 583, subdivision (a). This appeal ensued. We reverse.

I

The abundant precedent generated by section 583(a) is indicative of the competing policy considerations inherent in the application of the statute. Those cases which approve the dismissal of an action stress the benefits to be gained by the timely resolution of litigation and the breadth of the court’s discretion. (See, e.g., Innovest, Inc. v. Bruckner (1981) 122 Cal.App.3d 594, 599 [ 176 Cal.Rptr. 90 ]; Corlett v. Gordon (1980) 106 Cal.App.3d 1005, 1016 [ 165 Cal.Rptr. 524 ].) Cases holding to the contrary emphasize the need to have disputes resolved on their merits and the limitation on the court’s discretionary power. (See, e.g., Denham v. Superior Court (1970) 2 Cal.3d 557, 566 [ 86 Cal.Rptr. 65 , 468 P.2d 193 ]; United Farm Workers National Union v. International Brotherhood of…