Procedural Posture

In an action arising from the lease of a copy machine, plaintiff lessee alleged that defendant lessor violated the unfair competition law (UCL), Bus. & Prof. Code, § 17200 et seq., by failing to reimburse the lessee for overcharges resulting from test copies run by service personnel. The Superior Court of Los Angeles County, California, sustained the lessor’s general demurrer without leave to amend, and the lessee appealed.

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Overview

The court of appeal held that the action was barred by the four-year statute of limitations for UCL claims under Bus. & Prof. Code, § 17208. The lessee admitted in the initial complaint that he knew of the alleged inaccurate readings and overcharges six years before filing his lawsuit. The continuing violations doctrine did not apply to salvage the claim. Once the lessee was aware that he was being overcharged for test copies and that his protests to the lessor were futile, he could have and should have taken diligent action. Routinely billing and collecting for test copies was not the type of harassing and egregious conduct the continuing violations doctrine was designed to deter, and no policy considerations comparable to those in cases applying the continuing violations doctrine compelled application of the continuing violations doctrine to violations of the UCL. The lessee could not wait for years until the agreement expired while more alleged overcharges accumulated before filing a complaint.

Outcome

The court affirmed the judgment.