So, you were served with a lawsuit and you read that you had 30 days to file a response with the court and serve that response on the plaintiff, but you forgot - now what? Well, in California, the result can have varied results, depending on various factors. Question: How long has your response been overdue? If your response was due filed and served yesterday (or even up to 2-3 weeks ago), you likely still have sufficient time to contact plaintiff or its counsel to request an extension to respond. You may hear a demand that you have waived time to attack the complaint, and must now file an Answer, but generally, you should still be given time to file a response, including an attack (Demurrer or Motion to Strike).
The rationale for allowing a "late" response is that, in California at least, courts "bend over backward" to allow all parties time to appear and have their side heard; the alternative, being defaulted by the plaintiff, takes time to finalize and, upon a request by the defendant, is almost always "set aside" - removed as though it did not occur. In fact, many attorneys often "stipulate" (agree) to set aside any default taken because the costs and time to oppose such request is so often met with a court granting the request to set aside, that it is pretty much, a waste of time.
With that said, of course, there are limitations to how long the court will allow a delay. California courts also expect cases to be processed diligently and timely. Where excessive delay occurs, even if by accident, courts have the discretion to deny a defendant's request to set aside a default. The ability to set aside a default is highly impacted in cases where the Request for Entry of Default has, in fact, turned into a Default Judgment. At that point, a defendant has a much more difficult task in overturning a Entry of Judgment.
I hope this is informative to you - Have a Great Day!
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