Purdum

Appellant Robert W. Purdum appeals from an order setting aside the default of respondent Barton Ray Holmes and from judgment of dismissal after an order sustaining Holmes’s demurrer to appellant’s first amended complaint.

Appellant contends that (1) the court abused its discretion when it set aside Holmes’s default and (2) that the first amended complaint was not barred by the statute of limitations set forth in Code of Civil Procedure section 338, subdivision (f) and the court should have permitted appellant to plead around the statute by adding a cause of action for breach of fiduciary duty. We affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

In his first amended complaint, appellant alleged that he and Pamela Ann Welch each owned a 50 percent interest in a piece of real property in Simi Valley (the property). Respondent Holmes is licensed as a notary and as a real estate broker.

Appellant alleged that in 2002 he “agreed to use [Holmes] to notarize two deeds.” The purpose of the deeds was to temporarily remove appellant’s name from the property’s title so that appellant and Welch could get a loan. One deed would transfer appellant’s interest to Welch. The other deed would…