How to Fill Out and File California Small Claims Form SC-105

California small claims Form SC-105, Request for Court Order and Answer, is a two-page Judicial Council form that lets a party in a small claims case ask the judge to make an order and gives the other side a written way to respond.¹ Page one is the Request; page two is the Answer. You can download it from the California Courts website or pick up a copy at any Superior Court clerk’s office.

When to Use It and When Not To

SC-105 is the catch-all form for small claims requests that don’t have their own dedicated Judicial Council form. The form itself tells you to check with your county’s Small Claims Advisor first to confirm it fits what you need.² A common use is asking the judge to correct a party’s name — for example, if you sued a business under the wrong legal name and need to amend the case file.

Two requests people often assume go on SC-105 actually belong elsewhere. To dismiss your case entirely, use Form CIV-110, Request for Dismissal.³ To postpone a hearing, the Judicial Council has adopted Form SC-150, though California law also allows a written request by letter or on a Judicial Council form.⁴ Some courts still accept SC-105 for postponements; call the clerk before you file.

Completing Page 1: The Request

Before you start, gather your case number, the full names and mailing addresses of every plaintiff and defendant, and the name and address of the courthouse where the case is pending. That information fills the header and the first two items.

Item 1: Your name, mailing address, and your role in the case (plaintiff, defendant, or other). Check the matching box.
Item 2: The names and addresses of all other parties. If the list runs long, check the overflow box and continue on Form MC-031 (Attached Declaration) or a plain sheet labeled “SC-105, Item 2.”⁵
Item 3: The specific order you want. Be direct. “I ask the court to correct the defendant’s name from ‘ABC Inc.’ to ‘ABC Holdings LLC'” is more useful than a paragraph of background.
Item 4: The facts that support your request. Judges reviewing these on paper want concrete details, not emotional appeals.
Item 5: Pre-printed language. You don’t fill anything in here.
Item 6: Date, print your name, and sign. Your signature sits under a penalty-of-perjury declaration, so everything above it must be accurate.²

Label every attachment with your case number. Pages that get separated during clerk processing can force the judge to rule without your full explanation.

Completing Page 2: The Answer

Page two is for the party receiving a request. If someone files an SC-105 against you and you do nothing, the judge can grant the order without hearing from you.² That warning is printed on the form. Take it seriously.

Item 7: Your name, address, and role in the case.
Item 8: Three checkboxes. Agree to the request (8a), oppose it (8b), or ask for a hearing so both sides can argue in person (8c). You can check more than one. If you oppose, explain why in the space provided or on an MC-031 attachment.
Item 9: The date you mailed your completed Answer to every other party.
Item 10: Date, print your name, and sign under penalty of perjury.

After completing the Answer, mail it to the court right away and send a copy to every party listed in Items 1 and 2 of page one.²

Filing, Fees, and Service

File the completed page one with the small claims clerk at the courthouse handling your case. Most SC-105 requests carry no filing fee. The exception is a postponement request filed after the defendant has already been served with the claim, which costs $10.⁴ If you can’t afford the fee, apply for a waiver on Form FW-001.⁶

How you serve the form depends on when you file. For pre-trial requests where the original claim has already been served, mail or personally deliver a copy of SC-105 to every other party and fill in the service declaration date on the form.² If the plaintiff’s claim hasn’t been served yet, you don’t need to serve the SC-105 on the other parties. For post-trial requests, the clerk handles service by mail and the court gives the other side at least 10 days to file an Answer.

Timing

SC-105 doesn’t set one universal deadline. Timing depends on what you’re asking for. For postponement requests, file at least 10 days before the hearing.⁷ If you file with fewer than 10 days left, explain on the form why you waited. The judge may not have time to review a late request, and if that happens, you’ll need to appear in court and ask for the postponement in person.⁴

On the same day you file a postponement request, mail or personally deliver a copy to every other party. The court is required to respond promptly by mail. If the judge finds that the interests of justice support postponing the hearing, the court will reschedule and notify all parties of the new date, time, and location by mail.

What Happens After You File

Once the court has both the Request and any Answer, or the response deadline passes, the judge reviews the paperwork and issues a ruling. The decision comes on Form SC-105A, Order on Request for Court Order, which the clerk mails to all parties.⁸

Sometimes the judge decides the paperwork alone isn’t enough and schedules a hearing. If that happens, a notice arrives in the mail with the date, time, and location. Watch your mailbox closely after filing. The SC-105A or the hearing notice tells you what to do next, and missing it can mean missing a deadline or a court appearance.

If the Judge Denies Your Request

Small claims court is designed to be informal, and there’s no formal motion for reconsideration when a judge denies a pre-trial SC-105 request. Your practical options are to raise the issue again at the hearing itself or to submit a new SC-105 if circumstances have changed.

Post-trial denials are different. If your request was a motion to vacate a judgment because a defendant didn’t appear at trial, you can appeal within 10 days of the date the clerk mailed the notice of the decision. The appeal goes on Form SC-140, Notice of Filing Notice of Appeal, and a filing fee applies unless you have an approved fee waiver. While the appeal is pending, the plaintiff cannot enforce the judgment. If the appeal judge decides the motion should have been granted, the judgment is canceled and a new trial is either held immediately or rescheduled.

1
California Courts Self Help Guide. Request for Court Order and Answer (SC-105)
2
Judicial Council of California. SC-105 Request for Court Order and Answer (Small Claims)
3
California Courts Self-Help. Request for Dismissal (CIV-110)
4
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure CCP 116.570
5
California Courts Self Help Guide. Attached Declaration (MC-031)
6
California Courts Self Help Guide. Request to Waive Court Fees FW-001
7
California Courts Self Help Guide. Change Your Small Claims Court Date
8
California Courts Self Help Guide. Order on Request for Court Order (SC-105A)