Hardy

Plaintiff Knowledge Hardy sued defendants Joe Gardella (Gardella) and America’s Best Home Loans (ABHL) (collectively America’s Best) in state court for fraud, breach of contract, negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, and violations of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 17200 et seq.). On the first day of trial, America’s Best successfully moved for judgment on the pleadings on the ground of collateral estoppel. On appeal, Hardy, who is acting in proprio persona, contends the trial court erred by dismissing the complaint because the prior action was not terminated by a judgment on the merits and the issues therein were not actually litigated. We agree and reverse the judgment.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In July 2009, Hardy filed an action in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California against IndyMac Federal Bank (IndyMac), Stearns Lending, Inc., Quality Loan Service Corp., Mortgage Electronic Registration System (MERS), ABHL and Gardella (the federal action). As pertinent here, jurisdiction was asserted over America’s Best based on a federal question, namely alleged violations of the Real Estate Settlement…