Privilege Claim Is Weak, Like Clock Radio Speakers!

Chen v. Berenjian, G055496 (D4d3 Mar. 28, 2019)

In an effort to avoid Creditor’s collections efforts, Judgment Debtor and his Brother engineered a collusive default judgment and then an execution that let Brother obtain possession of all of JD’s assets, including in particular a pair of stereo speakers. Creditor tries to levy on the speakers, and after learning that they were transferred to Brother based on the default, sues Brother for fraudulent transfer. 

The trial court dismissed the claim, finding it was barred by Civil Code § 47(b)’s absolute litigation privilege. But that misunderstands the nature of the claim. It was not really based on the default judgment. It was based on the wrongful transfer of the speakers to someone who didn’t have a bona fide claim to them. That isn’t communicative, so the litigation privilege does not apply. 

Reversed.