Universal City Nissan, Inc. v. Superior Court

The general rule is that a plaintiff or defendant who chooses small claims court foregoes the right to appeal his or her claim to superior court. Formerly, this meant the superior court lacked jurisdiction to grant affirmative relief on a small claims “appeal” of a plaintiff’s claim or on a defendant’s counterclaim. 1 This rule was changed by the Legislature in 1989. Under present law, the superior court may grant affirmative relief to a plaintiff or counterclaimant who appeals. That is what happened in the case before us, and we affirm the judgment.

*205 Factual and Procedural Summary

Universal City Nissan, Inc., filed an action in small claims court alleging that Alberto Magdamo and Victoriana Magdamo owed money on a vehicle purchase contract. The Magdamos filed their own small claims action against Universal City Nissan alleging that it willfully misused their credit information with malicious intent to collect on an unsupported claim. The small claims court entered a judgment for Universal City Nissan on both claims. The Magdamos appealed to the superior court, which ruled that Universal City Nissan was to recover nothing on its claim and granted the Magdamos $2,500…