Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California
I had a landlord take me to court for an unlawful detainer filed after the day I had left there was unmistakable evidence such as a picture of the property front door open with the gas company's shutoff dated notice on the front door and the property managers vehicle in the driveway, in essence the management company was already getting ready for next tenant. The gas shut off date was at least a week before courtdate; needless to say they lost the unlawful detainer and request for additional rent money.
Question: What is the statute of limitations on abuse of process? What is the statute of limitations for abuse of process? Does this scenario sound like either, or both?
2 Answers from Attorneys
What happened to you could be "malicious prosecution," or it could indeed be "abuse of process," or it could be "unfair debt collection practices," or all of the above. The statute of limitations on malicious prosecution and abuse of process is two years, and one year for violation of the Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. If your rental agreement contains the words "attorney fees," then if you win your attorney fees would be reimbursed, just as they would have been if you had used an attorney to beat back the unlawful detainer lawsuit..
Malicious prosecution claims and abuse of process claims are governed by the two (2) year personal injury statute of limitations set forth in Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1. The cause of action for malicious prosecution accrues on the date that hte proceedings in the prior action were dismissed or terminated. For abuse of process it accrues when the abuse of process occurs, unless injury does not occur until later.
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