Opinion ID: 2276186
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Defendants' Use of a Motion to Quash Service of Summons Was Proper

Text: In Delta Imports, Inc. v. Municipal Court, supra, 146 Cal.App.3d, 1033, 194 Cal.Rptr. 685, the defendant tenant moved to quash service of summons based on his contention that the complaint failed to state a cause of action for unlawful detainer and therefore could not support the issuance of a summons with a five-day response time. The municipal court denied the motion, and the defendant petitioned for a writ of mandate, which the superior court denied on the ground that the defendant tenant's remedy was a demurrer to the complaint, not a motion to quash service. The Court of Appeal reversed, holding: A motion to quash service is the only method by which the defendant can test whether the complaint states a cause of action for unlawful detainer and, thereby, supports a five-day summons. A general demurrer only tests whether the complaint states a cause of action for something even if it is on a theory other than unlawful detainer [Citations 1.]. Moreover, if the defendant appears in the action by filing a demurrer, he moots the very point he is seeking to raise. [Citations.] (146 Cal.App.3d at p. 1036, 194 Cal.Rptr. 685.) The Court of Appeal found the complaint failed to state a cause of action for unlawful detainer by failing to allege compliance with the notice requirements of Code of Civil Procedure section 1161, subdivision 3., and directed the lower court to quash service of process. Treatise writers have noted that although the holding in Delta Imports, Inc. is correct if read narrowly, its broad language has created confusion and uncertainty among some practitioners as to whether a tenant must challenge an unlawful detainer complaint by demurrer or by motion to quash (See 1 Cal. Eviction Defense (Cont. Ed. Bar 2d. ed.1993) § 11.28, pp. 226-227 (rev.4/05); 2 Cal. Landlord-Tenant Practice (Cont. Ed. Bar 2d ed.1997) § 10.29, pp. 999-1001 (rev.2/06)). In general, the difference between the procedures is that a motion to quash attacks service of the summons and complaint for lack of personal jurisdiction, while a demurrer tests the legal sufficiency of the allegations in the complaint. A motion to quash may be made by specially appearing, but the filing of a demurrer without simultaneously moving to quash constitutes a general appearance. Also, when a motion to quash is granted, a defective complaint must be amended and personally served with a summons on the defendant. When a demurrer is sustained and the complaint is capable of being amended, the amended pleading may be served on the defendant's counsel. Finally, the notice period for a hearing on a motion to quash is shortened by Code of Civil Procedure section 1167.4, subdivision (a), while a demurrer may only be scheduled on a minimum of 16 court days' notice (Code Civ. Proc. § 1005, subd. (b); 2 Cal. Landlord-Tenant Practice, supra, § 10.21, pp. 987-998 (rev.2/06)). In the present case, the trial court distinguished Delta Imports, Inc. on the basis that a demurrer was unavailable because the complaint alleged a valid cause of action in addition to unlawful detainer, citing Greener v. Workers' Compensation Appeals Board supra, 6 Cal.4th 1028, 1036, 25 Cal.Rptr.2d 539, 863 P.2d 784. Greener was an action for declaratory and injunctive relief challenging amendments to the Workers' Compensation Act on various constitutional grounds. The Workers' Compensation Appeals Board moved to quash service of summons on grounds the superior court lacked jurisdiction over it and the subject matter of the action. In noting that a motion to quash was an improper procedure for challenging subject matter jurisdiction, the Supreme Court in dictum stated the only situation in which a motion to quash service of summons has been approved as a procedure by which to challenge the sufficiency of the complaint is in unlawful detainer, where a demurrer is unavailable, citing Delta Imports, Inc., albeit with the caveat that the court was not necessarily approving of the conclusion that an exception should be recognized in unlawful detainer actions as [t]hat question is not presented here (6 Cal.4th at p. 1036, fn. 5, 25 Cal. Rptr.2d 539, 863 P.2d 784). We believe that Greener is properly read to approve the use of a motion to quash to attack an unlawful detainer complaint when the pleading defect affects personal jurisdiction under the five-day unlawful detainer summons, and that a general demurrer is unavailable because a demurrer only tests whether the complaint states a cause of action for something even if it is on a theory other than unlawful detainer ( Delta Imports, Inc v. Municipal Court., supra, 146 Cal.App.3d at p. 1036, 194 Cal. Rptr. 685). Strict compliance with the specifically prescribed notice conditions is a prerequisite to invoking the summary procedures of unlawful detainer (1 Cal. Eviction Defense Manual, supra, § 6.5, p. 104 (rev.4/05)). Although a defendant could generally demur on the ground that the complaint fails to state a cause of action for unlawful detainer and requires a 30-day summons, if the pleading defect is jurisdictional, and defendant demurs without simultaneously moving to quash, defendant makes a general appearance and moots the very point he is seeking to raise ( Delta Imports, Inc. v. Municipal Court, supra, 146 Cal.App.3d at p. 1036, 194 Cal.Rptr. 685). Thus, it appears that the court in Greener did not intend to limit Delta Imports, Inc., to situations where a demurrer is technically unavailablein fact, a general demurrer is always availablebut rather to situations where a demurrer is unavailable in the sense that it would deprive the defendant of the relief he seeks in challenging personal jurisdiction. Furthermore, there is no factual basis for distinguishing Delta Imports, Inc. on the basis that a demurrer was unavailable because the complaint alleged a valid cause of action in addition to unlawful detainer. Although the complaint in Delta Imports, Inc. alleged four breaches of the lease agreement, the court at all times referred to the action as one for unlawful detainer only. Its holding was expressly based on the finding that [the complaint] does not state a cause of action for unlawful detainer due to insufficient allegations regarding compliance with the three-day notice requirements of Code of Civil Procedure section 1161, subdivision 3. ( Delta Imports, Inc. v. Municipal Court, supra, 146 Cal. App.3d at p. 1036, 194 Cal.Rptr. 685). We believe that what the court in Delta Imports meant was not that a demurrer was unavailable because the complaint stated a valid cause of action in addition to unlawful detainer, but rather that a demurrer was unavailable because the pleading defect affected personal jurisdiction and a demurrer would moot[ ] the very point [defendants are] seeking to raise ( Ibid. ).