Community Corner

Rancho Santa Margarita Has Fewest Lawsuits Against It

RSM is the least-sued city in Orange County, according to a newspaper report.

Rancho Santa Margarita continues to get honored in several ways. It has been considered one of the safest cities in the West, one of the best places to raise a child in Orange County, and now there's another: It's the least-sued city in the O.C.

RSM had half as many lawsuits or claims filed against it as the runner-up, La Palma, according to a report compiled by the Orange County Register.

The Register determined that RSM had the lowest rate of claims and lawsuits, 0.6 per 10,000 residents. La Palma had 1.2 and Aliso Viejo 1.3.

Find out what's happening in Rancho Santa Margaritawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

RSM had three for its nearly 50,000 residents; La Palma had only two but significantly fewer residents, 16,304.

Steve Hayman, city manager for Rancho Santa Margarita, said there were no lawsuits filed against the city in 2010, that the total used by the Register is for claims only.

Find out what's happening in Rancho Santa Margaritawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"The few claims we do get, we pay attention to them and try to be diligent about those that are reasonable to settle them," Hayman said. "I didn’t have a clue they were working on that article. Certainly, City Council members and staff, everyone likes to be best at something. We tend to get named in the top or best of a lot of things, so we love it."

The cities with the highest claims were Laguna Beach (25.2)—a figure that was probably skewed by the December floods and claims against the city—Los Alamitos (19.6) and Newport Beach (16.0). Only four other cities in the county had double-digit lawsuits per 10,000 residents: Seal Beach (12.7), Villa Park (11.1), Anaheim (10.9) and Brea (10.2).

In total the Register reported there were 2,114 lawsuits and claims for damages countywide. 

The data did not include claims against the Orange County Sheriff's Department, which contracts with several cities for police services, including Rancho Santa Margarita. Cities that had their own police services tended to have higher claims.

Among the four least-sued cities, which includes Stanton (1.8), only La Palma had its own police force.

Here is a list of cities by the numbers.


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