Opinion ID: 2637100
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Restitution Claims

Text: Civic contends its contract causes of action are based on the law of restitution, and are therefore exempt from the claims statutes under Minsky v. City of Los Angeles, supra, 11 Cal.3d 113, 113 Cal.Rptr. 102, 520 P.2d 726 (Minsky ), and Holt v. Kelly (1978) 20 Cal.3d 560, 143 Cal.Rptr. 625, 574 P.2d 441. In Minsky, the plaintiff sought the return of money seized by the police from an arrested person and allegedly diverted to the Policeman's and Fireman's Pension Fund after the criminal charges were resolved. (Minsky, at pp. 117-118, 113 Cal.Rptr. 102, 520 P.2d 726.) This court held that a claim for the recovery of specific property is not one for money or damages under the Government Claims Act. (Id. at p. 121, 113 Cal.Rptr. 102, 520 P.2d 726.) Even if the cash taken from the arrestee was no longer traceable, the initial exemption of the action from the claims statute is not lost simply because the city takes the further wrongful step of disposing of the bailed property. The city cannot be permitted to invoke the claims statute, originally not available to it, by virtue of a later wrongful dissipation of the property. To so hold would be in effect to allow the local entity to profit by its own wrong, penalizing a plaintiff who, in light of the specific recovery remedy apparently available to him, justifiably did not file a claim. (Id. at p. 122, fn. 14, 113 Cal.Rptr. 102, 520 P.2d 726.) Minsky was followed in Holt v. Kelly , which similarly involved a claim for the return of personal property seized at the time of an arrest. ( Holt, supra, 20 Cal.3d at pp. 564-565, 143 Cal.Rptr. 625, 574 P.2d 441.) The rule that suits to recover specific property are not subject to the claim requirements has also been applied in actions to recover property seized under a search warrant, or compensation for its value. (Long v. City of Los Angeles (1998) 68 Cal.App.4th 782, 786-787, 80 Cal. Rptr.2d 583; Hibbard v. City of Anaheim (1984) 162 Cal.App.3d 270, 277-278, 208 Cal.Rptr. 733.) None of these cases involved a government contract. Civic argues that it transferred its plans and assets to the Agency in the expectation that it would be compensated for them, bringing it within the rule of Minsky and Holt. Civic characterizes that rule as an exemption of all restitution claims from the claim requirements. Such a blanket exclusion has never been recognized. The Minsky rationale is that a claim for specific property effectively held by the government as a bailee for the claimant is not one for money or damages under the Government Claims Act. ( Minsky, supra, 11 Cal.3d at p. 121, 113 Cal.Rptr. 102, 520 P.2d 726.) The Minsky court's reference to general constructive trust principles must be understood in that context. (Ibid.) Subsequent cases have limited the Minsky exception to situations in which the defendant had a duty to return seized property, enforceable by way of mandamus. ( Holt v. Kelly, supra, 20 Cal.3d at p. 564-565, 143 Cal.Rptr. 625, 574 P.2d 441; Long v. City of Los Angeles, supra, 68 Cal.App.4th at p. 787, 80 Cal. Rptr.2d 583; Hibbard v. City of Anaheim, supra, 162 Cal.App.3d at p. 277, 208 Cal. Rptr. 733; see Hart v. County of Alameda, supra, 76 Cal.App.4th at pp. 780-781, 90 Cal.Rptr.2d 386.) [8] When a claim for money or damages is not based on a governmental obligation to return specific property, it is subject to the claim requirements. Civic identifies no specific property held by defendants that it was entitled to recover. Rather, it contends it yielded assets in exchange for a promise of compensation. An attempt to enforce such a contractual agreement is a claim for damages under section 905. [9] The Minsky line of cases provides no excuse for Civic's failure to comply with the claim requirements.