Hu v. Silgan Containers Corp

In Hu v. Silgan Containers Corp. (1999) 70 Cal.App.4th 1261, the court clerk notified Hu that her check for the filing fee had been returned for insufficient funds, and required payment of the fee within the 20-day period of section 411.20. After Hu failed to pay the fee, her complaint was voided under section 411.20. Hu then paid the amount owing, and the trial court reinstated the complaint. Subsequently, however, the trial court granted the defendant's motion for judgment on the pleadings, on the ground that it had lacked authority to reinstate the complaint, and the complaint could not be refiled because the limitations period had since run. (Hu, supra, 70 Cal.App.4th at p. 1264.) On appeal, the judgment was upheld. The court explained, "once Hu failed to comply with Code of Civil Procedure section 411.20's time limitation, the court lost jurisdiction over her complaint and could only void the complaint." (Hu, supra, 70 Cal.App.4th at p. 1266.) "In the present case, Code of Civil Procedure section 411.20 expressly requires payment of delinquent filing fees within 20 days or the clerk 'shall void the filing.' . . . Section 411.20's language evinces an unequivocal legislative intent that payment of filing fees is both mandatory and jurisdictional." ( Hu, supra, at p. 1269.) Furthermore, the court held that section 473 did not apply, because it does not afford relief for jurisdictional errors such as failing to timely pay filing fees. Although relief under section 473 may be granted from failure to take nonjurisdictional procedural steps, "the payment of delinquent fees is . . . a jurisdictional step, and the court did not err in declining to grant relief under section 473." ( Hu, supra, at p. 1270.)