Lack Of Standing And Res Judicata Drove The Conclusion That The Acceptance Was Final On The Dispute.
Burke v. Benworth Capital Partners, LLC, Case No. G064478 (4th Dist., Div. 3 Jan. 26, 2026) (unpublished) is an interesting case which confirms that an accepted and paid CCP § 998 offer by an assignee will divest the assignor of standing and end the dispute on res judicata grounds.
What occurred here is that a son, as assignor, assigned claims to his mother, as assignee, against a defendant lender who was alleged to have failed to disburse Paycheck Protection Program funds during the pandemic. Mother accepted a broad 998 offer by defendant for $5,000, “inclusive of all damages, penalties, costs, attorneys’ fees, interest, and any claims against Defendants.” Defendants paid mother under the 998 offer. However, son tried to revive claims against lender, with the lower court granting a demurrer without leave to amend. The dismissal was sustained by the 4/3 DCA, in an opinion authored by Judge Bancroft sitting by assignment. The problem for son was that he lacked standing based on his assignment to mother. An additional problem was that the acceptance of the 998 offer by mother was res judicata because the accepted 998 offer effectively was a judgment which could not be reneged upon.