County of Los Angeles v. Financial Casualty

In County of Los Angeles v. Financial Casualty (2015) 236 Cal.App.4th 37, Financial timely filed a motion to vacate forfeiture of a bail bond and exonerate bail and set it for a timely hearing. (Id. at pp. 41-42.) The trial court took the motion off calendar when Financial's attorney failed to appear and entered summary judgment over one month later. (Id. at p. 42.) Financial did not recalendar the motion. Instead, it filed a motion to set aside summary judgment due to its attorney's mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect pursuant to section 473. (Ibid.) The trial court denied Financial's motion, reasoning that it lacked jurisdiction to consider the motion because it was not heard within 30 days of the expiration of the appearance period. (Ibid.) The Financial Casualty court reversed and held that the trial court had jurisdiction to rule on the section 473 motion because Financial had filed its underlying motion to vacate forfeiture and set it for hearing within the respective time frames set forth in section 1305, subdivision (j). (Id. at p. 43.)