Linton

A plaintiff who chooses small claims court instead of the municipal court gives up the right to appeal an adverse decision by the chosen court; only a small claims court defendant may appeal. (Code Civ. Proc., § 116.710, subds. (a) & (b).) This rule applies also to a small claims court defendant who files a defendant’s claim against the plaintiff; only the original plaintiff, “defendant” on the defendant’s claim, may appeal it. (Davis v. Superior Court (1980) 102 Cal.App.3d 164, 170 [ 162 Cal.Rptr. 167 ] (Davis).) In this case, the small claims court awarded $1,000 plus $21 in costs to tenants on their claim against their landlord and awarded exactly the same amount to the landlord on his defendant’s claim against the tenants. The landlord contends that the small claims court should instead have awarded nothing to each side and then neither side should have been allowed to appeal to the superior court for a trial de novo.

The superior court, hearing the tenants’ appeal in a trial de novo, awarded them $1,000, plus $21 in costs, but rejected the landlord’s claim against them. We consider here the landlord’s contention that the superior court erred in conducting a trial de…