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Jan. 8, 2026

Sonoma County seeks sanctions over bloated amended senior eviction lawsuit

Sonoma County urged a federal judge to sanction plaintiffs' counsel, alleging an unnecessarily lengthy first amended complaint violated Rule 11, delayed proceedings, and advanced frivolous claims over senior evictions tied to code enforcement.

Lawyers for Sonoma County asked U.S. District Judge James Donato to sanction the plaintiffs' attorney, Herman A. Franck V, over what they claim are frivolous pleadings designed to delay a lawsuit by his clients, who claim seniors are being evicted for alleged building code violations.

The motion, filed by Sonoma County Counsel Michael A. King, alleges Franck added confusing and unnecessary information to a 230-page first amended complaint and 490 pages of attached exhibits to ...

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