Furlotti

Introduction

Defendants, Alex and Nancy Furlotti, Quorum Properties and Portofino Place (together the Furlottis), owners of a residential apartment building, appeal from the trial court’s order granting a preliminary injunction requiring them to remove a fence they erected along the property line between their building and the adjoining commercial property owned by plaintiff, Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association (Teachers). Because Teachers has not demonstrated a reasonable probability it will prevail on the merits at trial, the court below abused its discretion in granting the mandatory preliminary injunction. Accordingly, we reverse the order.

Factual and Procedural Background

The verified complaint, declarations and exhibits filed in connection with the preliminary injunction hearing disclose essentially undisputed facts. At the center of this controversy is a dead-end alley which runs east-west near the comer of Wilshire Boulevard and Bundy Avenue in Los Angeles and which is accessible only from Amherst Avenue. Measuring 21 feet wide, the alley separates the 14-story commercial office building known as the Wilshire/Bundy Plaza directly to the south, from the…