Government Claims PDF

GOVERNMENT CLAIMS Legal Basis: CA Torts Claims Act (Government Code 810-996.6) GENERAL RULE: A Government entity cannot be sued EXCEPTION: A written claim has been filed within the prescribed period. Failure to give proper notice of a claim can be a complete defense to it later bein...

GOVERNMENT CLAIMS Legal Basis: CA Torts Claims Act (Government Code 810-996.6) GENERAL RULE: A Government entity cannot be sued EXCEPTION: A written claim has been filed within the prescribed period. Failure to give proper notice of a claim can be a complete defense to it later being brought up in court. PRESCRIPTION PERIOD 6 MONTHS - Personal Injury - Damage to Property - Wrongful Death 1 YEAR - Breach of Contract - Damage to Real Property - Equitable Estoppel PERMISSION TO FILE A LATE CLAIM GROUNDS: 1. Mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect; 2. The claimant's minority during the entire 6-month or 12-month period 3. Physical or mental incapacity of claimant 4. Death of claimant PROCEDURE IN FILING A GOVERNMENT CLAIM Against Local Government Entites and Employees File the claim directly with the entity’s governing board or clerk. Most departments and agencies have their own form. In case there is no form available, the claim shall state the following information: 1. The name and post office address of the claimant 2. The post office address to which the person presenting the claim desires notices to be sent. 3. The date, place and other circumstances of the occurrence or transaction which gave rise to the claim asserted. 4. A general description of the indebtedness, obligation, injury, damage or loss incurred so far as it may be known at the time of presentation of the claim. 5. The name or names of the public employee or employees causing the injury, damage, or loss, if known. 6. The amount claimed if it totals less than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) as of the date of presentation of the claim, including the estimated amount of any prospective injury, damage, or loss, insofar as it may be known at the time of the presentation of the claim, together with the basis of computation of the amount  claimed. If the amount claimed exceeds ten thousand dollars ($10,000), no dollar amount shall be included in the claim. However, it shall indicate whether the claim would be a limited civil case. Form for claims against the State of California: https://www.dgs.ca.gov/ORIM/Services/Page-Content/Office-of-Risk-and-Insurance- Management-Services-List-Folder/File-a-Government-Claim Form for claims against the Sacramento County: http://www.personnel.saccounty.net/Documents/FilingaClaim.pdf Form for claims against the San Diego County: https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/CountyCounsel/docs/claim-against-the-county-form.pdf Form for claims against the City of San Diego: https://www.sandiego.gov/sites/default/files/claim_0.pdf Limited Claims If your claim exceeds $10,000, you may not be required to indicate the amount you seek in your claim, but you are required to indicate whether the claim is a “limited civil case.” A civil case is a “limited civil case” if the plaintiff is seeking less than $25,000, not including costs and reasonable attorney fees, and the plaintiff is not asking for any of the following: 1. Permanent injunction: A court order which commands the government agency or entity to or prevents it from taking the complained of action or activity; 2. An action which seeks a determination of title to real property; 3. Enforcement of any order under the Family Code; or 4. Action for declaratory relief: A case that asks the court to state and establish the rights and other legal obligations of the parties involved, but does not actually order enforcement. AFTER FILING A CLAIM Once your claim is filed, the public agency generally has 45 days in which to respond or take action. This time is extended somewhat depending on if the claim is mailed and from where the claim is mailed. 5 possible outcomes after a claim is filed: 1. The entity fails to respond within the appropriate time period. This means that the claim is deemed rejected. 2. The entity may approve the claim in whole or in part. The entity may offer a compromise to the claim, which may constitute a settlement of the whole case. 3. The entity may reject the claim. 4. The entity may state the claim does not have sufficient information. The claim can be amended within the time period set by law to fill in that missing information. 5. The entity may return the claim for being untimely. REJECTION OF CLAIM Once claim is rejected by the Government, filing the suit is the next step. The Governmental agency has two options for rejection. They can either send a rejection notice letter or do nothing. If they choose to not send any letter, or a letter that is not in compliance with Government Code § 913, the statute of limitations for filing a suit is two years. If they send a proper rejection letter, the Statute of Limitations for filing suit is six months. A proper rejection letter will contain information providing notice of the applicable statute of limitations, thus the reasoning why a lack of notice extends the Statute of Limitations. GRANTING OF PETITION If the court grants the petition to proceed without the claim requirement, the claimant must file his or her lawsuit within 30 days. Failure to file suit within this time period can result in the inability to ever file the suit again. PROCEDURAL STEPS FOR A 6-MONTH CLAIM 1. Present the written claim 2. The Government entity may issue a “Notice of Insufficiency”, and allow you to amend your claim 3. The Government entity will either accept or reject your timely claim 4. You may apply for a late claim relief 5. If the Government entity rejected your claim, the claimant may now file a lawsuit, NOTE: The procedural claims for 1-year claims are technically the same, except that the late claim relief is unavailable. PREMISES LIABILITY, elements: 1. The property was in a dangerous condition at the time of the injury; 2. The injury was proximately caused by the dangerous condition; 3. The dangerous condition created a reasonably foreseeable risk of the kind of injury which occurred; and either: a. The danger was created by a negligent or wrongful act of a public employee, or b. The public entity had actual or constructive notice of the dangerous condition and enough time to correct or protect against the dangerous condition. To establish notice, the dangerous condition may have existed for a period of time and was obvious enough that the government entity should have discovered the condition and its dangerous character.