When can I serve a request for documents and do I have to file it with the court?
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When can I serve a request for documents and do I have to file it with the court?
I filed a small claims against my landlord. He requested a jury trial so I had to file a formal complaint and serve it with a summons. He filed a counterclaim. I answered his counterclaim 3 days ago. How long do I have to wait (we don’t have a court date yet) to serve the “Request for Documents” and do I have to file it with the court? Also is there something else I must file or do first? I am doing this Pro Per as I have no funds for attorneys so I am researching how to do it on-line but I haven’t found a site that lays everything out in sequence.
Asked on August 24, 2011 Oregon
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
As far as I know, in almost all states in this country if a person files an action in small claims court (maximum jurisdiction for an award is $7,500 or less in California) there is no right to a jury trial and the defendant usually cannot remove the action to a higher jurisdictional court in the state and county where the small claims court action was filed.
In most states, if you are the plaintiff, you have to wait at least ten (10) days after a defendant is served with the summons and complaint to begin formal written discovery consisting of, but not limited to written interrogatories, requests for admissions and document production requests.
If more than ten (10) days have passed since you were served with the landlord's counter claim in the lawsuit you are involved in with him or her, most likely you can now serve your first set of document requests upon the landlord.
Good luck.
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