To fill out California small claims Form SC-108, complete Items 1 through 5 on the first page: identify yourself and the other parties, check whether you’re asking the judge to correct a clerical error or to cancel the judgment because the wrong law was applied, describe the problem in the space provided, and sign under penalty of perjury. File it at the courthouse where your case was heard within 30 days after the clerk mails the Notice of Entry of Judgment.1California Courts | Self Help Guide. Request to Correct or Cancel Judgment and Answer (Small Claims)
Make Sure SC-108 Is the Right Form
SC-108 covers two situations, and only two. The first is a clerical error in the judgment: a misspelled name, a wrong-party listing, a transposed digit in the award. The second is a judgment you believe rests on the wrong legal rule, which you’re asking the court to cancel outright. Both grounds come from California Code of Civil Procedure Section 116.725.2Justia. California Code of Civil Procedure 116.710-116.795 – Motion To Vacate And Appeal
If you didn’t show up to the hearing and lost by default, SC-108 is not your form. You need Form SC-135, the Notice of Motion to Vacate Judgment, which is governed by Section 116.730 and requires you to show good cause for missing the hearing.3California Courts | Self Help Guide. Ask to Cancel (Vacate) the Judge’s Decision Using the wrong form can burn your 30-day window, so check this first.
The 30-Day Deadline
You have 30 days from the date the clerk mails the Notice of Entry of Judgment (Form SC-130 or SC-200). The clock starts when the clerk mails, not when you open the envelope, so check your mail promptly after any small claims hearing. You get one shot: the statute allows a single motion to correct a clerical error or to set aside a judgment on incorrect legal grounds.2Justia. California Code of Civil Procedure 116.710-116.795 – Motion To Vacate And Appeal
Filing SC-108 does not extend your deadline to file a regular small claims appeal. If both routes are on the table, keep the appeal deadline in mind as a backstop.4Judicial Council of California. SC-108 Request to Correct or Cancel Judgment and Answer
Filling Out Page One
The form is two pages. Page one (Items 1–5) is your request. Page two (Items 6–9) is the answer section that the other party fills in later. You only complete page one. Download the fillable PDF from the California Courts website or pick up a paper copy at your courthouse’s self-help center.1California Courts | Self Help Guide. Request to Correct or Cancel Judgment and Answer (Small Claims)
Item 1: Your Information
Enter your name and address, and check the box showing whether you’re a plaintiff or a defendant in the case.
Item 2: Other Parties
List the names and addresses of every other plaintiff and defendant. Copy them exactly as they appear on the judgment so the clerk can match your filing to the right case file.
Item 3: What You’re Asking For
This is the substantive part. Check box 3a for a clerical correction. Write out the specific error as it currently appears on the judgment, state what the correction should be, and briefly say why. Point to the exact line of the judgment that’s wrong rather than describing the issue in general terms.
Check box 3b if you want the judgment canceled because the court applied the wrong law. Name the statute or legal principle you believe should have applied. The space is small on purpose. Judges reviewing SC-108 aren’t looking for a retrial on paper, and re-arguing the facts or the weight of the evidence isn’t what this box is for. Focus on the legal rule.4Judicial Council of California. SC-108 Request to Correct or Cancel Judgment and Answer
Item 4: Basis for the Order
Pre-printed language asking the court to consider the form, the case file, and any evidence at a hearing. Check the box.
Item 5: Declaration
Sign under penalty of perjury that everything on the form is true and correct. Date it.
One note on Item 3 whichever box you check: judges can also correct clerical errors on their own initiative at any time, without a motion from you. So if the error is genuinely just a typo, sometimes a call to the clerk is enough to flag it.2Justia. California Code of Civil Procedure 116.710-116.795 – Motion To Vacate And Appeal
Filing, Fee, and Service
Take the completed form plus two copies to the clerk’s office at the courthouse where the case was heard. The filing fee under CCP 116.745 is $20.5Judicial Council of California. Statewide Civil Fee Schedule If you can’t afford it, ask the court for a fee waiver.3California Courts | Self Help Guide. Ask to Cancel (Vacate) the Judge’s Decision
You don’t have to serve the other side yourself. Once you file SC-108, the clerk mails a copy to every plaintiff and defendant listed on the form. The court then gives the other parties at least 10 days to file their answer on page two before deciding.4Judicial Council of California. SC-108 Request to Correct or Cancel Judgment and Answer
After You File
Once the 10-day answer period ends, the court reviews the request. The Orange County Superior Court’s self-help guide says the court typically mails a decision or sets a hearing date about 15 days after filing.6Superior Court of California, County of Orange. After the Small Claim Trial If the judge needs more information or either side asked for a hearing, you’ll get a notice with a date. Otherwise the ruling arrives by mail.
Watch your mailbox. Decisions go to the addresses listed on the form, so make sure yours is current.
How the Other Side Answers
If you’re on the receiving end of someone else’s SC-108, you respond on page two (Items 6–9). You can agree with the correction or cancellation, disagree and explain why the judgment should stand, or request a hearing so both sides can argue in person.4Judicial Council of California. SC-108 Request to Correct or Cancel Judgment and Answer After completing the answer, mail a copy to everyone listed in Items 1 and 2, note the mailing date in Item 8, sign the declaration in Item 9, and file the original with the clerk. If you do nothing, the court may rule without hearing from you.
If the Court Denies the Request
An SC-108 denial doesn’t automatically open a small claims appeal on the same terms as a missed-hearing motion. The specific 10-day appeal window in Section 116.730 is written for motions to vacate under that section (missed hearings), not for SC-108.7California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 116.730 – Motion to Vacate If your SC-108 is denied and you still want to challenge the underlying judgment, look at whether the regular small claims appeal deadline is still open, since filing SC-108 didn’t extend it.4Judicial Council of California. SC-108 Request to Correct or Cancel Judgment and Answer
Collection Isn’t Automatically Paused
Filing SC-108 does not stop the winning party from collecting. If wages are being garnished or a bank account has been levied, the motion alone won’t pause any of it. You would need to ask the court separately for a stay of enforcement while the motion is pending. Move quickly if collection is already underway, because the 30-day filing window and any enforcement activity run at the same time.