How to File a Claim Against the City of Los Angeles: Deadline, Form, Where to File and What Happens Next (Updated November 2026)

To file a claim against the City of Los Angeles, submit the City’s Claim for Damages form to the Los Angeles City Clerk, online at claims.lacity.org, by mail, or in person at City Hall, Room 395. Claims for injury, death or damage to personal property such as a car must be filed within six months; other claims have one year. The City then has 45 days to act, and if it does nothing the claim is treated as rejected. After a written rejection notice you generally have six months to file a lawsuit.

By Michael Shemtoub, trial attorney, Beverly Law. Updated November 2026.

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Quick facts: filing a claim against the City of Los Angeles

Only the Office of the City Clerk can receive a claim for money damages against the City of Los Angeles or any of its departments. The City Attorney’s claims page says no other City, county or federal office can accept one, including the City Attorney’s own office (City Attorney, Claims; LAAC § 5.169). LAAC § 5.169 does let the Clerk deputize the board secretaries of proprietary departments such as LADWP to accept claims against their own department; see our LADWP page.

Item	City of Los Angeles
Deadline	6 months for death, personal injury or damage to personal property (including your car). 1 year for other claims, such as damage to a house or land (Gov. Code § 911.2).
File online	claims.lacity.org (Spanish: spanish.claims.lacity.org). You get a claim number right away.
File by mail	Office of the City Clerk, 200 North Spring Street, Room 395, City Hall, Los Angeles, CA 90012
File in person	Room 395, City Hall, 200 N. Spring St. (enter on Main Street), Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., except City holidays
Not accepted	Email, fax and phone. Claims sent to the City Attorney or to a department are not filed.
Form	Claim for Damages to Person or Property, Form Cont. 100-A (Rev. 12/18), PDF
Questions about filing or the form	City Clerk, (213) 978-1133 or clerk.cps@lacity.org
Claim status	City Attorney claims line (213) 978-7040, your assigned adjuster, or attclaimsubmit@lacity.org with your claim number in the subject line
Supporting documents	Email attclaimsubmit@lacity.org, fax (213) 978-7114, or mail to City Attorney Claims Section, 200 N. Main Street, Room 600, City Hall East, Los Angeles, CA 90012
City’s time to decide	45 days, then the claim is treated as rejected (Gov. Code § 912.4)
Time to sue	6 months from the date a written rejection notice is mailed or handed to you; 2 years from accrual (usually the injury date) if no proper notice is sent (Gov. Code § 945.6)
Filing fee	None listed on the City Clerk’s claim pages

Sources: City Clerk, File a Claim; City Clerk, Claim for Damage; City Attorney, Claims.

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Can you sue the City of Los Angeles?

Yes, but only after you file a claim. California law bars a lawsuit for money damages against a public entity until a written claim has been presented and the entity has rejected it, or the claim is treated as rejected because the entity did nothing for 45 days (Gov. Code § 945.4). The California Supreme Court has held that a complaint that does not show a timely claim, or a legal excuse, can be dismissed at the start of the case (State of California v. Superior Court (Bodde) (2004) 32 Cal.4th 1234). The rule covers “all claims for money or damages,” including contract claims (City of Stockton v. Superior Court (2007) 42 Cal.4th 730).

The City can also be held liable only where a statute says so (Gov. Code § 815). The two statutes behind most injury claims against the City are the dangerous-condition statute for streets, sidewalks and other City property (Gov. Code § 835) and the statute that makes a public entity liable when its employee negligently drives a vehicle on the job (Vehicle Code § 17001).

Step by step: how to file a claim against the City of Los Angeles

Find your deadline. Count six months from the injury (one year for claims like damage to real property). Use the calculator above or read how long you have to file a claim against the City of Los Angeles.
Confirm the City is the right agency. Streets in unincorporated areas belong to the County, freeways to Caltrans, Metro buses to Metro, and LAUSD schools to the school district. See which agency to file with.
Gather your documents. Photos, the police or LAPD report number, 311 service request numbers, repair estimates and medical records. Use the documents checklist.
Fill out the form. Our field-by-field guide to the City claim form covers each question and the mistakes that cause problems later.
File it with the City Clerk online, by mail or in person, and keep proof of the filing date. See how to file.
Track the 45 days. Send follow-up documents to the City Attorney’s Claims Section and check your claim status.
Watch for the rejection letter. The six months to sue usually runs from the date it was mailed. Read what happens after you file and what to do if your claim is denied.

Missed the six months? Read how to apply to file a late claim right away. The application has a one-year outer limit.

What happens after you file a claim against the City

The Clerk gives the claim a number and sends it to the City Attorney’s office, which assigns an investigator or adjuster. The adjuster may ask for more documents and cannot decide until they arrive. The City then accepts or denies liability. A denial comes in writing (City Attorney, Claims).

Missing information. If the City thinks the claim leaves out required facts, it has 20 days to send a written notice listing the defects, and must then wait 15 days before acting (Gov. Code § 910.8). If it sends no notice, it generally gives up those objections (Gov. Code § 911).
45 days. The City must act within 45 days. If it does not, the claim is treated as rejected on the 45th day (Gov. Code § 912.4).
Rejection notice. A written rejection must warn you that you have six months from the date it was mailed or delivered to sue (Gov. Code § 913; § 945.6).
Settlement. If the adjuster offers money, you sign a release and the City Controller issues the payment. With some exceptions, the City is self-insured. Vehicle damage claims are paid to the legal owner, its attorney or its insurer.

Do not file the same claim twice. The City Attorney asks claimants not to submit duplicates.

What you must prove, and what the City argues

For an injury caused by a street, sidewalk or other City property, you must show the property was in a dangerous condition when you were hurt, the condition caused the injury, the risk was foreseeable, and either a City employee created the condition or the City knew or should have known about it in time to fix it or warn people (Gov. Code § 835). “Should have known” means the hazard was there long enough and was obvious enough that a reasonable inspection would have found it (§ 835.2).

The City’s usual answers are that the defect was too small to be dangerous (§ 830.2), that the road followed an approved design (§ 830.6; Cornette v. Department of Transportation (2001) 26 Cal.4th 63), or that another driver caused the crash. In a case from Eagle Rock, the California Supreme Court held that a City feature can still be a cause of injuries even when another driver started the chain of events (Cordova v. City of Los Angeles (2015) 61 Cal.4th 1099). Details are on our page on dangerous condition of public property.

Which agency do you file with?

Many Los Angeles streets, buses and buildings belong to agencies other than the City. Each one has its own clerk and its own form, and a claim sent to the wrong office may not count (DiCampli-Mintz v. County of Santa Clara (2012) 55 Cal.4th 983).

If it involved	File with
A City street, sidewalk, park, tree, City vehicle or LAPD	Los Angeles City Clerk, Room 395 (LAPD claims)
Unincorporated roads, County hospitals or the Sheriff’s Department	Executive Officer, Board of Supervisors (claims against LA County)
A Metro bus or train	LACMTA Legal Services (Metro bus accident claims)
A freeway or state highway	Caltrans or the Department of General Services (Caltrans claims)
LADWP	LADWP directs claims to its own Claims Section; the City Attorney says all City damage claims go to the City Clerk (LADWP claims)
A Los Angeles Unified school	LAUSD Board of Education, by mail only (LAUSD injury claims)

More detail, including how to tell who owns a road: which agency do I file with?

How much does the City of Los Angeles pay on claims?

The City paid a record of about $286.3 million in liability payouts in fiscal year 2025, which ended June 30, 2025, according to figures from Controller Kenneth Mejia reported by ABC7. The Controller’s Jan. 30, 2026 letter puts General Fund liability claims at $287 million, with $152 million from the Police Department, $44 million from Street Services and $20 million from Transportation (Controller letter, Jan. 30, 2026).

Who approves a settlement depends on the amount. Under LAAC § 5.173 and Charter § 273, the City Attorney can settle up to $50,000 with the Mayor’s approval, which the Mayor may delegate. Lawsuit settlements from $50,000 to $100,000 also need the Claims Board (the Mayor, the Council President and the City Attorney, or their designees). Settlements of pre-lawsuit claims over $50,000, and of lawsuits over $100,000, go to the City Council, subject to the Mayor’s veto. In April 2026, for example, a Council motion recommended a $250,000 settlement of a lawsuit by a person hit by a falling street sign in North Hollywood (CF 26-0400). More on amounts and timing: how much does the City pay?

Potholes, sidewalks and City vehicles

Potholes. Damage to your car from a City pothole is a personal property claim with a six-month deadline. Payment is far from automatic: an NBC4 I-Team report found about 6,600 pothole claims from 2003 to 2012, 627 drivers reimbursed and just over $352,000 paid (NBC Los Angeles, 2013). Proof that the pothole had been reported before your damage matters. See pothole damage claims.

Sidewalks. City law makes adjacent property owners responsible for maintaining sidewalks, but the City Controller has reported that the City’s sidewalk repair rules do not change the City’s liability to injured pedestrians under state law and create no new owner liability (Controller, sidewalk report). The same report counted more than 1,700 claims and 1,020 lawsuits over sidewalk injuries in five fiscal years. See sidewalk trip and fall claims.

City vehicles. Crashes with a City truck, bus or LAPD car follow the same six-month claim rule. See City vehicle accident claims and what to do when a city or county vehicle hits you.

Find your question

Deadline: every time limit in the process and how to count six months.
How to file: online, mail and in person, and how to prove the filing date.
Claim form: Form Cont. 100-A, field by field.
Documents checklist: what to attach and what to send later.
After you file: the 45 days, the adjuster and the rejection letter.
Claim denied: the six-month deadline to sue.
Late claim: applying for permission to file after six months.
Claim status: who to call and what to send.
Sidewalk trip and fall: cracked and raised sidewalks.
Pothole damage: flat tires, bent rims and crashes.
City vehicle accident: City trucks, buses and police cars.
Dangerous condition of public property: what Gov. Code § 835 requires.
Trees, parks and other City property: falling branches, parks and buildings.
Which agency do I file with?: City, County, State or district.
How much does the City pay?: payouts and settlement approval.
Wrongful death claim: who files when a family member dies.
Claims for minors: extra time and its limits.
Los Angeles County, LA Metro, Caltrans, LADWP, LAPD and LAUSD: where and how to file against each.

Related pages

Common questions

Can I sue the City of Los Angeles?

Yes, but you must first file a written claim with the Los Angeles City Clerk and wait for the City to reject it or for 45 days to pass with no decision. A lawsuit filed without a timely claim can be dismissed. Most injury claims against the City are based on a dangerous condition of City property or on a City employee’s negligent driving.

How long do I have to file a claim against the City of Los Angeles?

Six months from the date of the injury for personal injury, wrongful death and damage to personal property such as a car, and one year for other claims such as damage to real property, under Government Code section 911.2. If you miss six months, you can apply for permission to file a late claim, but no later than one year after the injury.

Where can I get the City of Los Angeles claim for damages form PDF?

The form is called Claim for Damages to Person or Property, Form Cont. 100-A (Rev. 12/18), and the PDF is on the Los Angeles City Clerk’s website. You can also file without the PDF at claims.lacity.org, or in Spanish at spanish.claims.lacity.org. To have a form mailed to you, call the City Clerk at (213) 978-1133.

What is the phone number to check my claim status with the City of Los Angeles?

Call the City Attorney’s claims line at (213) 978-7040, contact your assigned adjuster, or email attclaimsubmit@lacity.org with your claim number in the subject line. For questions about filing a new claim, call the City Clerk at (213) 978-1133.

Can I email or fax my claim to the City of Los Angeles?

No. The City Clerk does not accept emailed or faxed claims, and claims cannot be filed by phone. File online at claims.lacity.org, mail it to the City Clerk at 200 N. Spring Street, Room 395, Los Angeles, CA 90012, or deliver it to Room 395 at City Hall. After filing, supporting documents can be emailed to attclaimsubmit@lacity.org.

What happens after I file a claim against the City of Los Angeles?

The City Clerk sends the claim to the City Attorney, which assigns an adjuster to investigate. The City has 45 days to act; if it does nothing, the claim is treated as rejected. If the City sends a written rejection, you generally have six months from the date it was mailed or delivered to file a lawsuit.

Can I file a claim against the City of Los Angeles for a pothole or a sidewalk fall?

Yes. Pothole damage to a car and injuries from a broken sidewalk are filed with the City Clerk within six months, like any other claim. To win, you generally must show the defect was dangerous and that the City created it or knew or should have known about it in time to fix it or warn people.

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Sources

Important: This page is general information, not legal or medical advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different; talk to a lawyer about yours. Texas cases are handled by the firm’s Texas-licensed attorneys, Joyce Ondich and John Efstathiou. Last reviewed: November 6, 2026.