Suing a City or County in California: 6-Month Rule

If a city, county, school district, transit agency, or the State of California injured you, you cannot simply file a lawsuit within two years. Government Code section 911.2 requires a written claim delivered to the public entity within six months of the incident for most injury claims. Miss that step and the lawsuit is normally barred, even though the ordinary two-year deadline has not run. This is the single most common way a valid California injury claim is lost.

Which Claims Are Affected

The Government Claims Act applies whenever the defendant is a public entity or a public employee acting in the scope of employment. In Los Angeles that covers a wide range of everyday incidents: a collision with a city vehicle or a Metro bus, a fall on a broken sidewalk or a defective stairway in a public building, a crash caused by a signal that was dark or a road defect the agency knew about, an injury on a school or community college campus, and injuries involving county hospitals or law enforcement.

It is not always obvious who owns what. A single Los Angeles intersection can involve the City of Los Angeles, the County, Caltrans, and a transit agency, and a sidewalk defect may be the responsibility of the city, an adjacent property owner, or both. When ownership is unclear, claims are presented to every entity that may be responsible rather than guessing.

The Six-Month Deadline

Under section 911.2, a claim for death, injury to person, or damage to personal property must be presented within six months of the date the cause of action accrues. Claims for other kinds of damage, including real property damage and most contract claims, get one year. Six months runs from the incident, not from the date treatment ends and not from the date you learned who owned the roadway.

If the deadline is missed, Government Code section 911.4 allows an application for leave to present a late claim, filed within one year of accrual and supported by a reason the statute recognizes — mistake, inadvertence, surprise, excusable neglect, minority, physical or mental incapacity. The entity can deny it, and then relief has to be sought from the court. It is a real remedy and a bad plan.

What the Claim Has to Say

Government Code section 910 sets out the required contents: the claimant's name and mailing address, the date, place, and circumstances of the incident, a general description of the injury or loss, the names of the public employees involved if known, and the amount claimed, or an indication of whether the claim would be a limited civil case if the amount exceeds ten thousand dollars. Many entities publish their own claim form, and using it avoids arguments about sufficiency.

Keep proof of delivery. A claim can be delivered to the clerk, secretary, or auditor of the entity, or mailed to that office. Certified mail with a return receipt, or a date-stamped copy from a counter filing, is what establishes the presentation date if the entity later says it never received the claim.

What Happens After You File

The entity has 45 days to act on the claim. It may reject it, allow it, or do nothing, in which case it is deemed rejected by operation of law. If the entity mails a proper written rejection notice, section 945.6 gives you six months from the date the notice was personally delivered or deposited in the mail to file suit. If no written notice is ever sent, the window to file suit is two years from accrual. The short six-month suit deadline is triggered by the rejection notice, so the letter that looks like bad news is also a clock starting.

Proving a Dangerous Condition

Many claims against Los Angeles public entities are dangerous-condition claims under Government Code section 835. That statute requires showing the property was in a dangerous condition at the time of injury, that the condition created a reasonably foreseeable risk of the kind of injury that occurred, and either that a public employee's negligent act created the condition or that the entity had actual or constructive notice of it long enough beforehand to have fixed it.

Notice is usually the contested element. Prior complaints, service requests, repair records, prior collision reports for the same location, and photographs showing long-term deterioration are the evidence that establishes it. Those records are obtained through public records requests, and the requests are stronger when the location and date range are specific. Our article on the most dangerous intersections in Los Angeles shows the kind of location-level crash data that supports this analysis.

Public entities also have immunities that private defendants do not, including design immunity for improvements built to an approved design and immunity for certain discretionary decisions. Those defenses are raised often and are not automatic.

Related Reading

For the general civil deadlines that apply once the claims process is complete, see our guide to the California statute of limitations. For how a claim is built and valued more broadly, see the complete guide to personal injury claims in Los Angeles and our practice overview of catastrophic injury claims.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long do I have to file a claim against a California city or county?

Six months from the date the cause of action accrues for personal injury, death, or personal property damage under Government Code section 911.2. One year applies to certain other claims.

What happens if I miss the six-month deadline?

You can apply for leave to present a late claim within one year of accrual under section 911.4, but the entity may deny it and court relief must then be sought. The lawsuit is otherwise generally barred.

Does the six-month rule apply to Metro or a school district?

Yes. Transit agencies, school districts, community college districts, and other public entities are covered by the Government Claims Act.

How long after rejection do I have to sue?

Generally six months from the date a written rejection notice was personally delivered or mailed, under Government Code section 945.6. If no proper notice is sent, the period is two years from accrual.

What do I have to prove in a sidewalk or road defect case?

Under Government Code section 835, that a dangerous condition existed, that it foreseeably caused this type of injury, and that the entity either created it or had notice in time to fix it.

Do I need to identify the right agency before filing?

Ownership is often unclear, so claims are commonly presented to every entity that may control the location, since the deadline runs regardless of who turns out to be responsible.

This is general information, not legal advice. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.