Example

The neighbors of an apartment building filed 75 nuisance actions in small claims court against the apartment owner, alleging that the owner allowed illegal drug activities to be conducted in and around the premises. Each plaintiff requested $5000 in damages plus costs, asserting that the activity caused them to live in constant fear for their safety and deprived them of full use of their property. The claims were consolidated, and the plaintiffs prevailed in small claims court. A trial de novo in superior court resulted in a judgment for plaintiffs totaling $220,000. The defendant petitioned for a peremptory writ of mandate to compel the superior court to set aside its judgment.

The appellate court denied the petition. Multiple nuisance claims for damages may be consolidated despite the complexity of the issues or the ultimate judgment’s being in excess of the individual small claims limits. The drug house qualified as a nuisance. Even though the injurious acts were often committed off the property by nontenants, the plaintiffs were seeking recovery for the defendant’s act in maintaining the property as a nuisance. [See Lew v Superior Court (Byrd) (1993) 20 CA4th 866, 872–873.]