Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California
If a defendant has not paid filing fee in time allotted for payment what happens in California if there was an order to vacate Answer to complaint for money? This regarding a credit cards attempt to sue for an uncollected bill that we were going through debt settlement on but the company went out of business. appreciate any help.
1 Answer from Attorneys
If you don't pay the filing fee, and don't have a fee waiver (forma pauperis) the court will void the filing. This means you are in default. The plaintiff (the person suing you) can take your default, and obtain a default judgment against you. There is case law that states that a motion to vacate the default, based on your failure to pay court filing fees, is inappropriate. "The trial court found Code of Civil Procedure section 473 inapplicable, because section 473 cannot provide relief for jurisdictional errors such as failure to timely pay filing fees pursuant to section 411.20. ...We agree with the court's conclusion." (Hu v. Silgan Containers Corp. (3rd Dist. 1999) 70 Cal.App.4th 1261, 1269.)
If I were you, I would refile your answer, and pay the filing fee, before your default is taken and you are out of court without a remedy.
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