How to Request a Change of Hearing Date

If you have filed a case or been sued in a California Small Claims Court and you would like change the date of your hearing, you have to request permission from the court. Here is how you can request that the court change your hearing date. P.S. This is a procedure we can help you with!

Step 1: Prepare the forms

Here are the forms you will need to prepare:

• Request to Postpone Trial (Form SC-150)- You will want to complete this form in its entirety. For question #3, most courts will only reschedule your hearing date by no more than 75 days. For questions #4, make sure you provide a good reason as to why you need your hearing rescheduled. If there are 10 days or less until your hearing you will also need to answer question #5.

• Order on Request to Postpone Trial (Form SC-152)- You only need to complete the court information, case number, and case name on the right hand side as the court will complete the rest.

• Proof of Service by Mail(Form SC-112A)- Complete this form for your server (someone not involved in your lawsuit) except don't complete #3(c) and don't sign it or date it as your server is the one who will need to do this.

Step 2: Provide a copy to the server

The other party has to be notified of your request to change the date of your hearing. The other party can be notified by mail so long as the person who is doing the mailing is over the age of 18 and not a party to the lawsuit (someone not involved with the lawsuit). This person will be "serving" the request to change the hearing date and will be considered the "server."

• Give a copy of all 3 forms to the server.

• The server will mail all 3 forms to the other party.

• After the server has mailed the forms, they will complete #3(c) on the Proof of Service by Mail(Form SC-112A).

• Have the server return the Proof of Service by Mail(Form SC-112A) to you. ‍

Step 3: File with the court

• There are 4 different ways to file documents in California Small Claims Court: (1) In-Person (2) By Mail (3) Online (only available in some courts) (4) by Fax (only available in some courts).

• Filing fee. If your lawsuit has already been served, the court charges a $10 fee to file a request to change the hearing date.

• File in person. If you decide to file in person, take 2 copies of all your completed forms and bring a self-addressed stamped envelope (with a stamp) so that the court can mail you a filed copy of the documents and the courts response to your request to change the hearing date.

• File by mail. Mail 2 copies of the completed forms and include a self-addressed stamped envelope (with a stamp). The court will use that self-addressed stamped envelope and send you a filed cop

Step 4: Wait to see if the court approves or rejects your request to change the hearing date

Most courts take 1- 2 weeks to respond to your request to change the hearing date. If your court does approve (grant) the request to change the hearing date for your small claims hearing, you will receive the new hearing date in the mail. If you court provides access to its court records online, you can check the online record to receive the information quicker. Here is a list of all California courts and related articles for them.

Please make sure to contact the court where your lawsuit is filed in prior to following these steps as they may change. Each court may also have slightly different procedures on how to request the change of hearing date for your small claims hearing.