Pagnini

*301 After plaintiff and appellant Joshua P. Pagnini (appellant) failed to respond to a demurrer filed by defendants and respondents Union Bank, N.A. and Unionbancal Mortgage Corporation (respondents), the trial court sustained the demurrer and entered judgment in favor of respondents. Appellant appeals from the court's denial of his motion for relief under Code of Civil Procedure section 473, subdivision (b) ( Section 473(b) ). 1 We conclude the trial court was obligated to grant relief under the mandatory provision of Section 473(b), where appellant presented a sworn declaration from his counsel attesting that counsel mistakenly failed to respond to the demurrer by timely filing an amended complaint. Although a number of court of appeal decisions have declined to give plaintiffs the benefit of the mandatory provision of Section 473(b) in other circumstances, we hold respondents' demurrer was effectively a "dismissal motion" and appellant's counsel's mistaken failure to respond to the motion obligated the trial court to relieve appellant from counsel's error. ( Peltier v. McCloud River R.R. Co. (1995) 34 Cal.App.4th 1809 , 1824, 41 Cal.Rptr.2d 182 ( Peltier ) [concluding…