Alliance Fin. v. City and County of San Francisco

In this opinion we are required to construe the claims presentation provisions of the California Tort Claims Act (Gov. Code, § 900 et seq.) as they apply to an action seeking payment for money due on a contract. We hold that the claims requirements apply to contract actions, including actions such as this. We also find that if the claimant provides written notification to the public entity that an actionable claim exists and that the failure to resolve it may result in litigation, the public entity may not remain silent and later defend on the grounds that the claimant failed perfectly to comply with the requirements of the act. This is true even if the claimant does not assert unequivocally that litigation is imminent.

AAA Building Maintenance Contractors (AAA) entered into a contract to furnish janitorial services for the City and County of San Francisco (San Francisco) Department of Recreation and Parks, at what was then known as Candlestick Park. Alliance Financial and Alliance Financial Capital, Inc. (Alliance), a financing agency, purchased a number of AAA invoices representing amounts due for those services, and AAA purportedly assigned to Alliance the…