§ 2030.260.Time to respond; shortening or extension of time; copies to all parties

This section fixes the clock that Section 2030.290's waiver-of-objections rule runs against. In an ordinary civil action, the party asked to respond has 30 days from service of the interrogatories to serve its original response on the propounding party. That 30-day period is a default, not an immovable wall: on motion, the propounding party can ask the court to shorten it, and the responding party can ask the court to extend it, though absent such an order the 30-day clock controls.

Unlawful detainer actions and other summary proceedings to recover possession of real property get a dramatically shorter deadline, just five days from service, reflecting how compressed the entire litigation timeline is in a possession case where a court date can arrive within weeks of filing. That five-day period is likewise subject to court-ordered shortening or extension on motion. Subdivision (c) adds the same service-on-everyone requirement found elsewhere in this chapter: the responding party must serve a copy of its response on all other parties who have appeared, though the court may excuse that requirement on a showing that full service would be unduly expensive or burdensome.