Legal Question in Civil Rights Law in Iowa

I filed a small claims on June 26th 2014 and asked to have the filing fee waved. The statue of limitations on this case was due to expire on September 9th 2014. The judge lost the file in his paperwork and ruled on the motion to grant the waving of the filing fee and set the case for trial. The date stamp was marked September 25th 2014. We went to court and the judge removed himself from the case and reset the case to be heard by another judge. The judge sent a letter to the defendant and I stating that it was on the courts error that the file was lost and if it had not been lost, that the case would have been granted and heard well with in the statue of limitations. Do I stand a chance with the new judge or am I wasting my time?


Asked on 12/14/14, 8:10 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Robert Luedeman solo practitioner

It's not a statute of limitations, it is the time in which a default judgment may be granted. The court doesn't enter a default sua sponte although the clerk can enter default. But you have to provide notice of your intent to file a default judgment and give the person 20 days to respond.And it's "statute" and not "statue".

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Answered on 12/15/14, 9:45 am


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