City of Huntington Beach v. Lee
The City of Huntington Beach (City) appeals from a judgment of dismissal entered in favor of respondent Shon Lee after the trial court sustained Lee’s demurrer to the City’s first amended complaint without leave to amend. Lee bought a unit in a low- and moderate-income condominium project in Huntington Beach that had sale restrictions as to the purchase price and the income of any buyer. In addition, the City was required to approve any sale. None of these conditions was met.
There was a problem, however, with the restrictions. Through an oversight, the legal description of the condominium property that included them was not recorded. Accordingly, the court refused to enforce the restrictions against Lee, citing certain statutory requirements for recording a legal description. Lee was dismissed from the City’s suit.
We reverse. The City has stated a cause of action for reformation of the defective restrictions. There is no dispute that the legal description was omitted by mistake. The statutes mandating a legal description as a condition of enforceability of property restrictions do not preclude a court from reforming an instrument under the proper circumstances. The demurrer should have been overruled.
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