A common counts cause of action in California is a simplified way to sue for a fixed sum of money someone owes you, used when a detailed contract claim isn’t available or might not hold up. Instead of pleading every fact behind the debt, you allege that the defendant owes a specific amount, give a short label for why (unreturned deposit, unpaid services, running account, and so on), and state that they haven’t paid. California recognizes several distinct types, each covering a different way money or value changed hands.
How a Common Count Works
A common count is not really its own legal theory. It’s a streamlined pleading format for money claims, described by California courts as “a general pleading which seeks recovery of money without specifying the nature of the claim.”1Justia. CACI No. 371 Common Count: Goods and Services Rendered The underlying principle is unjust enrichment: when someone has received money, goods, or services they haven’t paid for, the law treats them as if they had implicitly promised to pay.
The format is flexible. A common count works “whenever the plaintiff claims a sum of money due, either as an indebtedness in a sum certain, or for the reasonable value of services, goods, etc., furnished,” whether the original transaction rested on an express contract, an implied agreement, or none at all.2California Courts. CACI Invitation to Comment 24-02 That flexibility is why plaintiffs often plead a common count alongside a breach of contract claim. If the contract claim fails on a technicality, the common count can still carry the case.
The limits matter too. A common count only reaches a definite sum of money. You can’t use it for tort damages like pain and suffering, and you can’t use it to recover damages for breach of an express contract. The defendant must have actually received money or a benefit that rightfully belongs to you.
The Types California Recognizes
California law recognizes seven categories of common counts. The most frequently used are money had and received, goods and services rendered, open book account, and account stated. Each has its own elements laid out in the California Civil Jury Instructions (CACI).
Money Had and Received
Use this one when someone is holding money that belongs to you. Classic examples: a deposit paid under a deal that fell apart, a payment made by mistake, or money handed over under duress. You have to prove three things:
- The defendant received money that was intended for your benefit
- The money was not used for your benefit
- The defendant hasn’t returned it
Recovery is the amount the defendant received.3Justia. CACI No. 370 Common Count: Money Had and Received If you paid a $15,000 deposit on a construction project and the contractor never started, this claim targets that $15,000 directly.
Goods and Services Rendered
When you perform work or deliver goods at someone’s request and they don’t pay, this is your claim. For services, the legal term is quantum meruit, roughly “as much as deserved.” Four elements:
- The defendant asked you, by words or conduct, to perform the services or deliver the goods
- You did so
- The defendant hasn’t paid
- The reasonable value of what you provided
Recovery is the reasonable market value of the goods or services, not whatever price one side hoped to charge.1Justia. CACI No. 371 Common Count: Goods and Services Rendered This is the go-to claim for contractors, freelancers, and anyone whose handshake deal went sideways. It also works when a written contract exists but is unenforceable, such as when it was never properly signed or runs afoul of the statute of frauds.
Open Book Account
This claim fits an ongoing financial relationship where one side keeps a running tally. Think of a supplier who ships to a retailer on credit and records each transaction. You have to show:
- You and the defendant had financial transactions with each other
- You kept a written or electronic account of debits and credits in the regular course of business
- The defendant owes money on the account
- The amount owed
Actual records matter here. A general sense that money is owed isn’t enough.4Justia. CACI No. 372 Common Count: Open Book Account
Account Stated
An account stated is one step further. It arises when both sides have looked at the balance and agreed, expressly or through conduct, that the number is correct. That agreement essentially forms a new contract based on the agreed balance. Five elements:
- The defendant owed money from prior transactions
- You and the defendant agreed on the amount owed, by words or conduct
- The defendant promised to pay it
- The defendant hasn’t paid all or part
- The specific amount still due
Agreement can be implied from silence. Send a statement to someone who owes you money, and if they don’t object within a reasonable time, a court can treat that as acceptance of the balance.5Justia. CACI No. 373 Common Count: Account Stated Ignoring an invoice can strengthen the creditor’s position rather than protect the debtor.
Money Lent and Money Paid Out
The remaining categories cover money you loaned to the defendant at their request, and money you paid to someone else on the defendant’s behalf at their request. These show up in informal loans between business associates or friends, and in situations where one party covered an expense the other agreed to reimburse. The structure mirrors the others: the defendant requested the loan or expenditure, you provided the money, and they haven’t repaid.
What You Have to Plead
The pleading standard is unusually thin. You need only three things in the complaint: a statement that the defendant is indebted to you for a certain sum, a brief label for the type of obligation, and an allegation that the defendant hasn’t paid.
California courts have consistently held that a common count survives a demurrer even though the complaint gives far less detail than usual. A plaintiff doesn’t even have to plead when the money was advanced or when the defendant became indebted.6Justia. Evans v. Zeigler California Courts of Appeal Decisions The defendant’s tool is a bill of particulars, which forces the plaintiff to supply more detail, rather than a demurrer aimed at killing the case.
The catch: when a common count rests on the exact facts of a more specific claim like breach of contract, and the specific claim is legally deficient, the common count falls with it.2California Courts. CACI Invitation to Comment 24-02 For that reason, attorneys plead common counts as alternatives rather than restatements of the same claim.
Not Available for Consumer Debt Since July 2024
Since July 1, 2024, common counts cannot be used to collect consumer debt. Under Code of Civil Procedure section 425.30, a creditor suing on a consumer debt may not use any form of common count. The statute defines consumer debt as an obligation arising from a transaction in which money, property, or services were primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, and where the obligation appears in a note or written contract.7California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure CCP 425-30 The restriction applies only to debts incurred on or after that date.
The impact is real. Credit card companies, medical providers, and other consumer creditors can no longer rely on the simplified pleading. They have to plead a specific cause of action with the factual detail that requires. Business-to-business debts, commercial disputes, and consumer debts incurred before July 1, 2024, remain eligible.
How Long You Have to File
The deadline depends on whether the obligation is written or oral. For claims based on a written instrument, including a book account, account stated based on a written account, or a balance due on an open and current account with written entries, you have four years from the date of breach.8California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure CCP 337 For obligations not based on a written instrument, such as oral agreements or implied-in-fact contracts, the deadline is two years.9California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure CCP 339
One procedural quirk: because a common count is so vague on its face, the defendant usually can’t raise the statute of limitations through a demurrer unless the complaint itself shows the deadline has run.6Justia. Evans v. Zeigler California Courts of Appeal Decisions The defense generally has to be raised in the answer and proven at trial. Missing these deadlines permanently bars the claim, so it’s the first thing to check.
Defenses If You’re the One Being Sued
Several defenses recur in common counts cases:
- Statute of limitations. Four years for written obligations, two years for oral ones.
- Payment or satisfaction. You already paid, or paid an amount the plaintiff accepted as full payment.
- Offset. You paid the plaintiff money they aren’t crediting you for, reducing or eliminating the balance.
- Failure of consideration. You performed, but the plaintiff didn’t deliver what was promised in return.
- Lack of consideration. There was never a valid exchange to support the claimed obligation.
- Fraud or misrepresentation. The plaintiff induced the transaction through dishonest conduct.
Because common counts are rooted in equity, equitable defenses like unclean hands and laches (unreasonable delay that prejudiced you) can also apply.10Judicial Branch of California. List of Debt Defenses Which defense fits depends on what happened between the parties, but checking the limitations period is almost always the first move.
Prejudgment Interest on What’s Owed
Because a common count typically seeks a fixed dollar amount, a winning plaintiff can usually recover prejudgment interest on top of the principal. Under California Civil Code section 3289, when a contract doesn’t specify an interest rate, the obligation bears interest at 10 percent per year from the date of breach.11California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 3289 If the contract does specify a rate, that rate continues to apply after breach. On a $50,000 claim that takes two years to resolve, the interest alone could add $10,000 to the judgment. Any settlement analysis should account for it, because the clock doesn’t stop until the debt is paid or a judgment is entered.