Mendoza

In November, 1955, plaintiff brought a proceeding in unlawful detainer for default of rent in defendant small claims court. On December 6, 1955, the court dismissed the action upon its own motion on the ground that the 1955 amendment to section 117 of the Code of Civil Procedure, upon which its jurisdiction was predicated, was unconstitutional. From a judgment of the superior court that a writ of mandate issue compelling defendant to entertain the proceeding, defendant appeals.

Section 117 of the Code of Civil Procedure gives justice court and municipal court judges jurisdiction to sit as small claims courts in cases for the “recovery of money only where the amount claimed does not exceed one hundred dollars ($100), except that a municipal court judge sitting as a small claims court shall also have jurisdiction in proceedings in unlawful detainer after default in rent for residential property where the term of tenancy is not greater than month to month, and where the whole amount claimed is one hundred dollars ($100) or less” (Italics added.) The unlawful de- tainer provision was added in 1955. The jurisdictional amounts were increased to one hundred fifty dollars in 1957.

The…