My apartment manager lied in his proof of service to court summons. What can I do?

Question

I have received threats from my landlord over the phone, saying that he is filing suit against me. I vacated the unit on 8/8/08. The owner, stupid as he is, let it slip on the phone while trying to force me to pay for back rent which is fact not owed at all (a separate story entirely) that he had filed suit. I called the superior court for my county (Alameda, CA) and found that he had in fact filed a small claims suit against me. The apartment manager signed a proof of service (under penalty of perjury) saying that he delivered in person service of summons to court to me. HE NEVER SERVED ME WITH PAPERS, and I was completely unaware that there were civil proceedings in the work against me.

So I have two questions. 1) What can I do about him lying on the proof of service? I consider myself d**n lucky to have called the court and actually found out, because I have heard of people who weren't given proper service of summons and not finding out until their credit report shows a default judgment against them. I was never served. What can I do about this? Is there some sort of complaint mechanism? Frankly, I want this manager to burn. He is perjuring himself just to help out his slumlord buddy, and will ruin my credit in the meantime.

2) Also, I was never given a credit check prior to moving in. I came and looked at the unit and signed the lease right there, no questions asked. I never gave over any sort of information - SSN, birth date, etc - that could have identified me. I did sign over my first and last month's rent checks drawn on an account in my name. But since they have no identification information other than my name (and I assume my bank won't just give them my SSN if they were to ask, LOL), will a default judgment against me even affect me / my credit rating? All they filed (and can file) with the court is my name and an address that I do not reside at. So, unless I am missing something, they do not seem even to have the information to properly identify me and therefore negatively affect my credit. Am I missing something though?

Any advice?

Answer 1

The superior court clerk may have a complaint form, or you can make a report to the district attorney regarding perjury and fraud on the court by making a false return of summons. These are felonies for a reason, so the D.A. could seek prison time for the landlord.

On the other hand, you now have "actual notice" of the claim against you and you should file an "answer" and any "counterclaims", where you feel the landlord owes you money, and where he has attempted to defraud you by perjuring the return of service.  This will, at the very least, show the court that the landlord is a scumbag not to be taken seriously, which could help your case.

Answer 2

see the excellent books on landlord tenant law at nolo.com

all big box bookstores in alameda area will have them, and so will the library.