If a user has a Sealed Unlawful Detainer Case in the San Diego Civil Court they need to e-file into, the user needs to know the exact party names and address as entered on the court record to look the case up in the e-filing system. A user may add the case from the e-Filing Dashboard, or in a filing itself using an Advanced Case Search.
Users Must Perform an Advanced Case Search
To add a sealed San Diego Civil Unlawful Detainer case to your account, users MUST perform an Advanced Case Search. Even if a filer knows the exact Court and Case Number, ONLY an advanced search will allow a filer to add the case.
Best Practice
Since the Court may unseal a case or change it from a Limited one to an Unlimited one or Breach of Contract case, it is a best practice to perform an Advanced Search with the partial case number. This allows our system to find any unsealed matches.
For example, if you have case number 37-2018-00022446-CL-UD-CTL, you may perform an advanced search at the 330 W. Broadway (Central – Civil) court location using just the first portion of the case number (37-2018-00022446):
Note: Do NOT check the box ‘Is Restricted Unlawful Detainer Case’ when performing this type of advanced search.
If the case is unsealed and / or reassigned to a different case type or case category, our system will find it. You may then either click on the case number (Letter A) in the search result to add the case to your account or click the File on Case link (Letter B) to directly file on it.
If the case doesn’t come up using the method above, you will want to use one of the two methods below to add the case to your account.
Use One of the Methods Below to Add the Case to Your Account
1) Clicking Filing Status from the left menu of the dashboard
2) Clicking the accepted filing id
3) Once in the filing, scrolling to section 1
If the Case Number is listed in section 1…
In section 1, if the system displays the case number, you may click that number to pull up the case. Once up, you may click the “File on Case” link on the upper right of the Case Summary screen.
If a GET CASE link is displayed in section 1…
In section 1, if the system displays a GET CASE link instead of the case number, you may click that link to perform an advanced search.
1. Click the Advanced Case Search link.
2. Select the San Diego Civil Court in the drop down and check the box Is Restricted Unlawful Detainer Case.
3. The e-filing system will auto-populate the Plaintiff, Defendant, and Residence information as you entered the information in the accepted filing. However, if the information does not EXACTLY match what is the the court’s case management system, the court will not allow the case be added to the account. Please verify all fields
- Enter a Case Number For Restricted Unlawful Detainer Cases – It is a best practice to click this link to add your specific case year and case number to the search. This prevents the system from returning a search result with an out-of-date case such as instances where two or more case numbers exist with the same Plaintiff, Defendant, and Residence information.
- Case Year – Enter the year of the case listed in the case number.
- Case Number – Enter the 8 digits after the year listed in the case number (i.e. 00012345 from the case number 37-2021-00012345-CL-UD-CTL).
- Plaintiff – Verify the field(s) correctly displays the plaintiff’s First, Middle, and Last Name or lists a business’ name. If you are having trouble adding the case because of a name, try switching the information a bit like removing unnecessary commas (i.e change Acme Business, LLC to Acme Business LLC).
- Defendant – Verify the fields correctly display the defendant’s First, Middle, and Last Name or switch to a business name. If you are having trouble adding the case and there is more than one defendant, try using the other name.
- Residence – Verify the fields correctly display the Street Number, Directional, Street Name, Street Type, Unit Number, City, State, and Postal Code. If you are having trouble adding the case, this might be due to the court changing the address slightly. Try combining the Street Type with the Street Name, or remove the # sign from a Unit Number.
Once the E-Filing System Finds the Case
Once the e-filing system finds the case, you may click that case number in section 1 to pull up the case. Once up, you may click the “File on Case” link on the upper right of the Case Summary screen.
The Add a Case Button on the Dashboard
The Add A Case Link When Filing on an Existing Case
Clicking the button or link brings up the Add a Case popup. To add a San Diego Civil Unlawful Detainer case, users MUST perform an Advanced Case Search.
1. Click the Advanced Case Search link.
2. Select the San Diego Civil Court in the drop down and check the box Is Restricted Unlawful Detainer Case.
3. Enter the exact Plaintiff, Defendant, and Residence information as recorded at the court (see below). If the information does not EXACTLY match what is the the court’s case management system, the court will not allow the case be added to the account.
- Enter a Case Number For Restricted Unlawful Detainer Cases – It is a best practice to click this link to add your specific case year and case number to the search. This prevents the system from returning a search result with an out-of-date case such as instances where two or more case numbers exist with the same Plaintiff, Defendant, and Residence information.
- Case Year – Enter the year of the case listed in the case number.
- Case Number – Enter the 8 digits after the year listed in the case number (i.e. 00012345 from the case number 37-2021-00012345-CL-UD-CTL).
- Plaintiff – Enter the plaintiff’s First, Middle, and Last Name or switch to a business name. If you are having trouble adding the case because of a name, try switching the information a bit like removing unnecessary commas (i.e change Acme Business, LLC to Acme Business LLC).
- Defendant – Enter the defendant’s First, Middle, and Last Name or switch to a business name. If you are having trouble adding the case and there is more than one defendant, try using the other name.
- Residence – Enter the Street Number, Directional, Street Name, Street Type, Unit Number, City, State, and Postal Code. If you are having trouble adding the case, this might be due to the court changing the address slightly. Try combining the Street Type with the Street Name, or remove the # sign from a Unit Number.
Once the E-Filing System Finds the Case
Once the e-filing system finds the case, if the user originally clicked the Add a Case button from the Dashboard, the Case Summary will display. You may then click the File on Case link on the upper right of the filing.
If the user originally clicked the Add a Case link in a filing, then the case number will display in Section 1 and the user may proceed to Section 2 and select their document types.