San Mateo County Superior Court — Small Claims Hardship Protocol — CA · BenchPath

San Mateo County Superior Court — Small Claims Hardship Protocol

High confidence· verified October 8, 2026Remote / Zoom HearingsSmall Claims Hardship Protocol, Superior Court of California, County of San Mateo; posted on the court's Small Claims Division page (https://sanmateo.courts.ca.gov/divisions/small-claims-division) at https://sanmateo.courts.ca.gov/system/files/small-claims/hardship-protocol.pdf, fetched 2026-10-08.

Summary

Small claims hearings are in person; a party with a hardship who cannot appear in person may ask in writing, 30 days before the scheduled hearing, for a remote Zoom appearance (Attn: Small Claims Division-ROOM A, 400 County Center, Redwood City); a Judicial Officer decides, and a party with no notice from the Court appears in person; the notice is served on the Defendant with the Plaintiff's Claim.

Applies to

California > First Appellate District > San Mateo County > Superior Court of California, County of San Mateo

Requirement

SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN MATEO Small Claims Division 400 County Center Redwood City, CA 94063-1662 HARDSHIP PROTOCOL Please note that you must appear in-person for your scheduled Small Claims hearing. You may find the hearing details, including location, on your paperwork or online at www.sanmateocourt.courts.ca.gov using our online portal to search for your case. HARDSHIPS Remote Zoom appearances will be available for those who may have a hardship and are unable to appear in person. Please submit your request, detailing information regarding your hardship, in writing to the Small Claims Civil Division 30 days before your scheduled hearing. You may address your letter as follows: Superior Court of California, County of San Mateo Attn: Small Claims Division-ROOM A 400 County Center Redwood City, CA 94063-1662 A Judicial Officer will review your request and make a determination of whether a remote appearance will be allowed. If you do not receive notice from the Court, please plan on appearing in person as scheduled. PLEASE NOTE: This notice must be served to the Defendant with the Plaintiff’s Claim. Please visit the Court Website for more information regarding Small Claims at www.sanmateocourt.courts.ca.gov

Source of truth

SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN MATEO Small Claims Division 400 County Center Redwood City, CA 94063-1662 HARDSHIP PROTOCOL Please note that you must appear in-person for your scheduled Small Claims hearing. You may find the hearing details, including location, on your paperwork or online at www.sanmateocourt.courts.ca.gov using our online portal to search for your case. HARDSHIPS Remo

Official source: Superior Court of California, County of San Mateo — court website
Source health: Healthy · checked September 28, 2026
Effective date: —
Last verified: October 8, 2026benchpath-ca-t4-san-mateo-2026-10-08

Reviewer note: Composed 2026-10-08 (California T4 San Mateo build 2026-10-08) from BenchPath custody ca/t4/ca-san-mateo/docs/small-claims/hardship-protocol.pdf (171288 bytes, sha256 23f22694eb9c7796e17445b5024d0400ed359cce1f02ef8d8f7aca515e09cf36; 1 page) with the shared verbatim composer (v2 reflow): page marks and running headers or footers removed as chrome; lines reflowed into the document's paragraphs; proof 1 (whitespace-only) and proof 2 (same character multiset as the text layer minus chrome) pass. Documented settings (whitespace-only or same-character changes; the proofs hold): the letterhead's four lines, joined by the reflow, set apart (2 whitespace fixes). Review note: The protocol prints the court's web address as "www.sanmateocourt.courts.ca.gov" (carded as printed); the court's site is sanmateo.courts.ca.gov.