Legal Question in Appeals and Writs in California

Re: Motion to Vacate Judgment in Small Claims Court case

I'm afraid there's not too much good news for you, if you're the one who brought the claim and "won" that judgment instead of the money you were seeking. The small claims court may order that the parties to a contract do what they contracted to do (called "specific performance"), instead of awarding money, under section 116.220 of the Code of Civil Procedure: "the court may grant equitable relief in the form of rescission, restitution, reformation, and specific performance, in lieu of, or in addition to, money damages."

The party bringing the claim doesn't have any appeal rights, whether that party won or lost. I don't see any grounds in your question that would constitute the "good cause" needed to move to vacate the judgment either.

And if you appeared at the hearing, you wouldn't have the right to move to vacate the judgment anyway--only a party who didn't appear (for various accepted reasons) at the hearing may move to vacate.

The good news is that the court can do what's necessary to enforce the judgment. In your case, since this is a non-money judgment, you can make a motion to have the defendant held in contempt of court under Code of Civil Procedure section 717.010: "A judgment not otherwise enforceable pursuant to this

title may be enforced by personally serving a certified copy of the judgment on the person required to obey it and invoking the power of

the court to punish for contempt." The court may impose fines and other penalties, possibly affecting the defendant's contractor's license. Who knows, the court might even give you a money judgment too. You need to go see a small claims advisor at the courthouse where the case was heard, to make sure you do this right. Good luck.

Re: Motion to Vacate Judgment in Small Claims Court case

You might file a motion to amend, clarify or correct the judgment. Be sure to give notice to the defendant since his/her/its rights are being affected if the judgment gets changed. It will save you another trip to court and further delay.