Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

What the defendant filed (and served on you, I presume?) must have been more than just a request for a jury trial -- it must have been an Answer, including defenses. You should probably focus on the defenses that have been pled. An UD case moves quickly anyway, and your complaint should provide for daily damages during any delay period, should you prevail. Keep tuned to the Court's Web site to see if the jury fees are posted. Many demanded jury trials never occur because the demanding defendant fails to post jury fees in advance, which usually constitutes a waiver of the jury demand. Maybe you should consider hiring a lawyer who does UD cases routinely to assist you in getting swift justice.

Since Mr. Whipple did not answer your question, I will. A jury trial is a matter of right. If either party wants a jury and takes the steps necessary to preserve that right, the other side has no right to cancel the jury. As Mr. Whipple said, however, often parties trip up on preserving the right to a jury, most frequently by not depositing jury fees. If that happens, you would want to make sure the jury trial gets converted to non-jury. You'll have to check on local rules and practice on how you make sure the court drops the jury, though most will do it automatically.

There is no way to speed it up. If he requested jury trial, and timely requested it, the next issue is whether he timely pays for it, as suggested by Mr. Whipple.