Common Types Of Small Claims Cases With Special Rules
If you were in a car accident, you can sue the driver and the owner of the car that hit you. Often, they are the same person, but sometimes they are different, so make sure you name everyone as defendants. Keep in mind that you cannot sue their insurance company.
You can sue for:
- property damage to your car, and
- personal injury to you and anyone else in the car.
If the driver responsible for the accident is from another state, outside California:
- File your case like any other
Make sure to ask for a hearing that is at least 70 days away. Under the defendant's name and address write:
Serve: Dept. of Motor Vehicles
Legal Affairs Division
Legal Office, Third Floor
2415 First Avenue
Sacramento, California 95818 - The clerk will give you copies of the claim
- Send 1 copy to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) by registered mail with a $2 check. You can also hire a process server to serve the DMV. Send the copy to:
Department of Motor Vehicles
Legal Affairs Division
Legal Office, Third Floor
2415 First Avenue
Sacramento, California 95818 - Serve the out-of-state driver with the other copy after you get an "acknowledgment of receipt" form from the DMV. Call the sheriff's department where the driver lives or hire a process server in that state to serve the driver.
- Send 1 copy to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) by registered mail with a $2 check. You can also hire a process server to serve the DMV. Send the copy to:
- Then file the acknowledgment of receipt from the DMV and the Proof of Service (SC-104) with the small claims court.
California has a Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR), to keep repair shops from taking advantage of you. If you are unhappy with work done on your car, you can file a complaint with the BAR.
If you are dissatisfied with the car repair work:
- Speak directly with the service manager. Keep these tips in mind:
- Know your rights, as defined by the Bureau of Automotive Repair.
- Be polite and stay calm.
- Explain the problem and tell the service manager what you think is a fair settlement.
- Tell the service manager if you are willing to negotiate. In many disputes, no one is 100% right.
- If you cannot work it out, tell the service manager you are going to file a complaint with the BAR.
- Filing a complaint with the BAR
- File a complaint with the BAR. Make sure to save all your receipts. The BAR may ask for them.
- After you file your complaint, you will get a postcard telling you your case number and the name of your BAR representative.
- A supervisor will review the complaint to see if it appears the shop has violated the Auto Repair Act or any other laws.
- Your assigned BAR representative will review the complaint and contact you.
- Your BAR representative will try to work things out with the repair shop for you.
- You will get phone calls and letters with information about your case from the BAR.
- If you cannot work things out and the shop broke any laws, the BAR will get proof. Then they may give the shop a "Notice of Violation".
- You will be told when your case is closed.
- The BAR file of your claim can be very useful in any Small Claims case you bring against the auto repair shop. The BAR will usually make that file available if you request it with a Small Claims Subpoena form.
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Remember: The BAR cannot represent you in court or collect money for you.
BAR field and region offices: There are 40 BAR field and region offices in the state of California.
You can contact them locally at:
(408) 277-1860 (San Jose office) or
(800) 952-5210They are headquartered at:
California Department of Consumer Affairs
Bureau of Automotive Repair
10240 Systems Parkway
Sacramento, CA 95827
You can sue for unpaid wages if you were not paid for work you did. You may also have the right to statutory damages under California Labor Code section 203. Talk to your small claims advisor advisor for help if you are not sure.
If you qualify to use the services of the California Division of Labor Standards, file a claim with them before filing with the small claims court. You will find a lot of helpful information in several languages on their website about labor laws, how to file a claim, and other help if you do not qualify to use their services.
You can reach the public information number at:
- (415) 703-5444 (San Francisco division office)
- (408) 277-3711 (San Jose division office)
You can also call the Minimum Wage Hotline at: 1-888-ASK-WAGE (275-9243).
You can sue a local or state government agency in small claims court. If you have a claim against a city or county, the State of California or any other California public body, such as a School District, SamTrans, etc., you must follow the requirements of the California Government Code.
You cannot sue a federal government agency in small claims court!
To sue a state government agency, you need to prove that:
- You filed a claim with that agency, AND
- The agency rejected your claim.
- If you don't hear back, the claim is considered rejected after 45 days.
In most cases, you only have 6 months to file your small claims court claim once the government agency rejects your claim. File a copy of your rejection letter with your small claims court claim.
To present your claim to the government agency
Get an official claim form from the agency. You may be able to get the form on the agency's website.
- For a claim arising from a dispute with a department of the San Mateo County government, you can get the claim form here or from:
Clerk of the Board of Supervisors
400 County Center
Redwood City, CA 94603 - For a claim against a city government, contact the City Clerk for that city.
- For a claim against the State of California, go to the Government Claims Program web page, or contact:
State Board of Control, Suite 300
926 "J" Street
Sacramento, CA 95814 - Other public agencies provide their forms for claims against them.
Deadline to file your claim with the agency
- If your property was damaged or you suffered an injury, you have 6 months to file.
- If your claim is about a contract, you have 1 year to file after the contract was broken.
If you missed your deadline, you can ask for permission to file a late claim. Talk to a lawyer or the small claims advisor for help with this.
The agency will tell you if your claim is approved or denied. If you hear nothing it is considered denied after 45 days.
If your claim is denied, you can file in small claims court
If the agency denies your claim or if you have received no response after 45 days, you can sue in small claims court, you have 6 months to file in small claims court from the date the notice was personally delivered or deposited in the mail to file the claim. If you do not get a rejection letter, you have 2 years to file from the day the incident occurred. But do not count on having 2 years to file your claim.
Once you file, the procedure is the same as against any other defendant in a small claims case. You name the public agency as a defendant c/o the Clerk of the City Council, County Board of Supervisors or other governing board.
The most common disagreement between landlords and tenants is over the refund of the tenant's security deposit after the tenant has moved out of the rental unit. A security deposit is any money a landlord takes from a tenant in case the property is damaged.
There are limits on the amount of the security deposit:
- If security deposit is for a residential property without furniture, the security deposit may equal 2 times the rent.
- If the residence is furnished, the landlord may charge up to 3 times the rent.
- There is no restriction on the amount of the security deposit for the rental of a commercial property.
All security deposits must be refundable. California law allows the landlord to use a tenant's security deposit for 4 purposes:
- Unpaid rent,
- Late fees,
- Cleaning the rental unit when the tenant moves out -- but only to make the unit as clean as it was when the tenant first moved in, and
- Repair of damages, other than normal wear and tear, caused by the tenant or the tenant's guests.
The tenant's responsibility: Notify the landlord before you move out.
- If you pay rent once a month, you have to give your landlord 30 days' notice in writing. If you don't, the landlord can charge you for the unpaid rent. Unless a new tenant pays the rent, you'll have to pay for those 30 days.
- If you pay rent every week, you have to give 7 days' notice.
The landlord's responsibility: Inspect the rental unit and allow the tenant to repair any damage.
- Within a reasonable time after notice of termination is given or received, the landlord must advise the tenant, in writing, of the right to be present at a walk-through (an "initial inspection") with the landlord. The tenant must then request the "initial inspection" to be done within 2 weeks of the date that the tenant is going to move out. The purpose of the inspection is to allow the tenant an opportunity to repair damage pointed out by the landlord. If the tenant does NOT request an "initial inspection," the landlord is relieved of this responsibility.
After a tenant moves out, a landlord has 21 days to:
- Return the tenant's deposit in full, or
- Mail or personally give the tenant:
- A written letter explaining why they are keeping all or part of the deposit,
- A list of how much each of the deductions is,
- Any remaining refund of the deposit, and
- Copies of receipts for the charges/deductions, unless repairs cost less than $126 or the tenant waived (gave up) their right to get the receipts. If the repairs are not finished within the 21-day period for a good reason, the landlord can send the tenant a good faith estimate of the cost of repairs. Then, within 14 days of the repairs being done, the landlord must send the tenant the receipts.
It is common for landlords and tenants to disagree on what is normal wear and tear or necessary cleaning. The landlord must be able to prove the necessity and reasonableness of the amounts claimed, and be prepared with receipts, estimates, witnesses, photos, etc., to support the deductions.
If a landlord does not return the entire amount of the tenant's security deposit within the 21 days required by law, and the tenant disagrees with the deductions from the deposit:
- The tenant can write a letter to the landlord and explain why they are entitled to a larger refund. The tenant should keep a copy of the letter for their records.
- If you are a tenant in this situation, get help writing a letter asking a landlord to return a security deposit.
- If the tenant and landlord cannot reach an agreement on the amount of the security deposit returned, the tenant can file a small claims case against the landlord for return of the security deposit. The tenant can sue for:
- The amount of the deposit, PLUS
- Two times the amount of the security deposit in damages. The judge may give you these additional damages if the landlord kept the deposit in bad faith and not because of an honest dispute. ( Civil Code section 1950.5(l))
If the rental unit is sold during a tenancy, both the old and new owners can be liable for returning the deposit when the tenant moves, unless at the time of the sale, the old owner returns it to the tenant or transfers it to the new owner and notifies the tenant as to the amounts transferred or deducted and the name, address and telephone number of the new owner.
In a shared housing month-to-month rental, if the moving tenant originally paid their deposit to a roommate, generally that roommate will be responsible for its return. If the deposit was paid directly to the landlord in the moving roommate's own name, that tenant should recover it from the landlord. Roommate situations can become very complicated and landlords and tenants should have written agreements that clearly define the rights and responsibilities of all parties.
Generally, home improvement contractors must be licensed by the State of California. To find out if your contractor is licensed, call (or search online) the Contractors State License Board (CSLB):
800-321-2752 or (415) 469-6200
Licensed Contractors - You may sue in small claims court or file a complaint with the CSLB for:
- Work that was done wrong;
- Work that was not finished or finished on time;
- Unpaid subcontractors, material suppliers or employees;
- Not following building code requirements, not getting the required permits, etc.; or,
- False, misleading or deceptive advertising.
Unlicensed Contractors - You may sue in small claims court or file a complaint with the CSLB for the same issues as licensed contractors, plus for being unlicensed.
- It is illegal to contract to do home repairs or remodeling without a license for more than $500 including labor and materials.
- So, if an unlicensed contractor did work that requires a license and causes damage, you may file a claim for the damage the contractor caused and also ask for 3 times the amount of the damages.
- Keep in mind that if the damage the contractor caused forces you to tear all the work down and start over again, you may be able to sue for all the money you paid the contractor plus the cost of tearing out the bad work and starting over. You may also claim 3 times the amount of the damages as long as the total falls under the $10,000 small claims limit. (Code of Civil Procedure Sec. 1029.8)
- If the total amount you can sue for is over $10,000, you have to decide whether to give up the rest of the money and just sue for $10,000 or file your case in the Civil Division, as either a limited civil case (for $25,000 or less) or an unlimited civil case (for over $25,000).
- If you are sued by an unlicensed contractor, you may use the fact that the contractor was not licensed as a full defense, as long as the contractor did work that required a license.
- An unlicensed contractor can sue for payment for work in a home improvement contract for which a license is not required (like the installation of finished products that do not become a fixed part of the structure).
If you win and your licensed contractor cannot pay:
A contractor has to pay a $15,000 bond to get a license. So if the contractor violated the licensing law, you can sue the company that holds the bond by naming the bonding company as a defendant. This may be helpful in cases where the contractor is insolvent (has no money or assets) or has gone out of business. Contact the Contractors State License Board online or by calling: (800) 321-2752 or (415) 469-6200 to get the name of the bonding company.
You may find useful information for consumers on this topic from the Contractors State License Board.
To sue for a bad check:
- Send a bad check demand letter to the person who wrote the check and mail it by certified mail. In your letter, ask to be paid the amount of the bad check in cash or money order, within 30 days. In your demand, you can also include the fee charged by your financial institution to process the bad check (up to $25 for the first bad check and $35 for each subsequent bad check) and the cost of certified mail for the demand letter.
- Wait 30 days. If you are not paid in full within 30 days from the date you mailed the demand letter, then file a claim in small claims. You can sue for the amount of the check, plus statutory damages of 3 times the amount of the check, up to an additional $1,500. (California Civil Code section 1719)
- You can file your claim even if the other side has not signed for the letter, as long as you have proof of mailing by certified mail.
- Remember, if the total is over $10,000, you can either waive (give up) anything over $10,000 or sue in the Civil Division for the full amount.
- For your court hearing, take:
- A copy of the demand letter you sent,
- Proof from the post office that you sent the letter by certified mail and it was delivered (or refused),
- All other documents related to the case, like bank statements, notes of your conversations, and copies of any letters to or from the person who wrote the bad check.
You do not need to prove that the check writer "knowingly" wrote a bad check. You must only prove the check writer failed to make good on the check after being notified.
To sue when someone has stopped payment on a check to you:
- Send a demand letter to the person who wrote the check by certified mail. In your letter, ask to be paid the amount of the check in cash or money order, within 30 days. In your demand, you can also include the fee charged by your financial institution to process the bad check (up to $25 for the first bad check and $35 for each subsequent bad check) and the cost of certified mail for the demand letter.
- Wait 30 days. If you are not paid in full within 30 days from the date you mailed the demand letter, then file a claim in small claims. You can sue for the amount of the check, plus statutory damages of 3 times the amount of the check, up to an additional $1,500. (California Civil Code section 1719)
- You can file your claim even if the other side has not signed for the letter, as long as you have proof of mailing by certified mail.
- Remember, if the total is over $10,000, you can either waive (give up) anything over $10,000 or sue in the appropriate Civil Division for the full amount.
- For your court hearing:
- You must prove that the person who stopped payment on the check did NOT stop payment to resolve a good faith dispute with you. Examples of a good faith dispute would be the check writer's claim that the goods were not delivered, were defective, or that there was an overcharge.
- Take a copy of the demand letter you sent.
- Take proof from the post office that you sent the letter by certified mail and it was delivered (or refused).
- Take all other documents related to the case, like bank statements, notes of your conversations, and copies of any letters to or from the person who wrote the bad check.