SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA. Cross-Complainant Western National Construction ("Western") in this action.

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1 GREEN & HALL, A Professional Corporation MICHAEL J. PEPEK, State Bar No mpepek@greenhall.com SAMUEL M. DANSKIN, State Bar No sdanskin@greenhall.com MICHAEL A. ERLINGER, State Bar No merlinger@greenhall.com 1851 East First Street, 10 th Floor Santa Ana, California Telephone: (714) Facsimile: (714) Attorneys for WESTERN NATIONAL CONSTRUCTION E-FILED Sep 10, :52 PM David H. Yamasaki Chief Executive Officer/Clerk Superior Court of CA, County of Santa Clara Case #1-13-CV Filing #G By A. Ramirez, Deputy SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA CILKER APARTMENTS, LLC, vs. Plaintiff, WESTERN NATIONAL CONSTRUCTION, et al., Defendants. AND RELATED CROSS-ACTIONS CASE NO. 113CV DECLARATION OF MICHAEL ERLINGER IN SUPPORT OF WESTERN NATIONAL CONSTRUCTION'S EX PARTE APPLICATION TO SERVE THE CALIFORNIA SECRETARY OF STATE ON BEHALF OF GROUP M ENGINEERS [Ex Parte Application and [Proposed] Order filed concurrently herewith] JUDGE: Hon. Peter H. Kirwan DEPT.: 1 ACTION FILED: December 26, 2013 TRIAL DATE: February 1, 2016 HEARING DATE: September 15, 2015 TIME: 9:00 a.m I, Michael Erlinger, declare as follows: 1. I am a Of Counsel at Green & Hall, APC, counsel of record for Defendant and Cross-Complainant Western National Construction ("Western") in this action. 2. I have personal knowledge of the facts set forth herein and if called upon to testify as to the truth of those facts, I could and would do so competently. DECLARATION OF MICHAEL ERLINGER IN SUPPORT OF REQUEST TO SERVE SECRETARY OF STATE ON BEHALF OF GROUP M ENGINEERS P:\DOCS\Western Nat.Cilker\Pleadings\Applications\DeclMAE.SOS.Group M Engineers.docx

2 On December 26, 2013, Plaintiff Cilker Apartments, LLC filed its Complaint alleging construction defects to the property commonly known as One Pearl Place Apartments, located in San Jose, California ("Property"). 4. On April 30, 2014, WESTERN filed a Cross-Complaint against various subcontractors and professionals that performed work on or on behalf of the Property. On May 8, 2015, Group M Engineers was named as Roe 36 to the Cross-Complaint. 5. On May 11, 2015, First Legal Network ("First Legal"), a process server, was retained to serve WESTERN's Cross-Complaint upon Group M Engineers through their agent for service of process, Jity Mehta. First Legal reported that they were not able to serve this crossdefendant. Attached as Exhibit "A" is the Affidavit of Reasonable Diligence of William Umana. On May 18, 2015, First Legal went to the reported business address, located at Sherman Way, Suite 180, Van Nuys, CA. First Legal reported that this is not a valid address. The current occupant at this location is Innova Structural Design Group, and their receptionist stated that Group M Engineers has been out of business for over a year. 6. Attached as Exhibit "B" is the Affidavit of Reasonable Diligence of Amber Thorne. On June 18, 2015, First Legal went to the residence for the agent for service of process, identified through a database search, located at South Summit Ridge Circle, Apartment C, Chatsworth, CA. (See Exhibit "C.") First Legal went to the residence and determined that the location is not a valid current address. First Legal reported that this location is a secured apartment complex. The security guard on duty stated that the agent is not listed as a resident for the identified unit. Then, First Legal went to an alternate business address, identified through an Internet search, located at 4000 Barranca Parkway, Suite 250, Irvine, CA. (See Exhibit "D.") First Legal made multiple attempts to serve the agent for service of process at this alternate address. First Legal reported that this location consists of executive suites. The receptionist at this location stated that no one was in at the identified suite, the occupant(s) rarely come in, and they do not answer their phones. The receptionist was unable or unwilling to confirm that the entity located at the identified executive suite is Group M Engineers. 6. Our office conducted research to determine the corporate status of Group M 2 DECLARATION OF MICHAEL ERLINGER IN SUPPORT OF WESTERN'S EX PARTE APPLICATION TO SERVE SECRETARY OF STATE ON BEHALF OF GROUP M ENGINEERS P:\DOCS\Western Nat.Cilker\Pleadings\Applications\DeclMAE.SOS.Group M Engineers.docx

3 Engineers. Our office also searched a database and the Internet to find the whereabouts of the agent for service of process. Our investigation is detailed below: a) Group M Engineers: First Legal was retained to serve this party, located at Sherman Way, Suite 180, Van Nuys, CA; South Summit Ridge Circle, Apartment C, Chatsworth, CA; and 4000 Barranca Parkway, Suite 250, Irvine, CA. First Legal could not locate the agent or entity to serve WESTERN's Cross-Complaint. (See Exhibits "A" and "B.") According to the Secretary of State, Group M Engineers is a dissolved corporation. Attached as Exhibit "E" is the current print-out from the Secretary of State website. Attached as Exhibit "C" is the current print-out from the database LexisNexis listing the agent's current address as South Summit Ridge Circle, Apartment C, Chatsworth, CA, an address determined to not be valid. Finally, attached as Exhibit "D" is the current print-out from the Internet website of Group M Engineers, listing the business addresses of Sherman Way, Suite 180, Van Nuys, CA and 4000 Barranca Parkway, Suite 250, Irvine, CA, both determined to not be valid addresses. 7. From the investigation and attempts to serve Group M Engineers, it appears that Group M Engineers is a dissolved corporation and its agent not locatable. Therefore, WESTERN respectfully submits that service upon Secretary of State pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section is warranted. 8. Attached hereto as Exhibit F to this declaration is my September 9, 2015 correspondence to all counsel notifying them of this ex parte application and requesting that any Party that opposes Western's Application contact me immediately. To date, no party has contacted me to object to or oppose Western's Application. I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing is true and accurate. Executed the 9 th day of September, 2015, at Santa Ana, California Michael A. Erlinger 3 DECLARATION OF MICHAEL ERLINGER IN SUPPORT OF WESTERN'S EX PARTE APPLICATION TO SERVE SECRETARY OF STATE ON BEHALF OF GROUP M ENGINEERS P:\DOCS\Western Nat.Cilker\Pleadings\Applications\DeclMAE.SOS.Group M Engineers.docx

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21 PROOF OF SERVICE I am employed in the County of Orange, State of California. I am over the age of 18 and not a party to the within action. My business address is 1851 East First Street, 10th Floor, Santa Ana, CA On September 10, 2015, I served the within document(s) described as: DECLARATION OF MICHAEL ERLINGER IN SUPPORT OF WESTERN NATIONAL CONSTRUCTION'S EX PARTE APPLICATION TO SERVE CALIFORNIA SECRETARY OF STATE ON BEHALF OF GROUP M ENGINEERS BY E-SERVICE: I electronically served the document(s) via Santa Clara County Superior Court's Electronic Filing System on the recipients designated on the transaction receipt located on the Santa Clara County Superior Court's Electronic Filing System website. [See Transaction Receipt on SCE Filing Website] I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed on September 10, 2015, at Santa Ana, California Sheila Ellis DECLARATION OF MICHAEL ERLINGER IN SUPPORT OF WESTERN'S EX PARTE APPLICATION TO SERVE SECRETARY OF STATE ON BEHALF OF GROUP M ENGINEERS P:\DOCS\Western Nat.Cilker\Pleadings\Applications\DeclMAE.SOS.Group M Engineers.docx