Short answer. Only certain pleadings are allowed. Rule 70, Section 4 limits an ejectment case to the complaint, the compulsory counterclaim and cross-claim pleaded in the answer, and the answers to those, all of them verified. A separate reply, a third-party complaint, and similar pleadings fall outside this closed list and cannot be filed.

What the law says

The only pleadings allowed to be filed are the complaint, compulsory counterclaim and cross-claim pleaded in the answer, and the answers thereto. All pleadings shall be verified.

Rule 70, Section 4 — Pleadings allowed. Read the full provision →

A closed list of pleadings

Ejectment cases under summary procedure operate on a deliberately narrow set of allowed pleadings. The only pleadings that may be filed are the complaint itself, any compulsory counterclaim and cross-claim pleaded in the answer, and the answers responding to those counterclaims and cross-claims. Pleadings that are common in ordinary civil actions, such as a reply to the answer or a third-party complaint bringing in an additional party, simply are not on this list and so cannot be filed in an ejectment case, even if a party believes one would be useful to its position.

Everything must be verified

Every one of these pleadings — the complaint, the answer with its counterclaim or cross-claim, and the responses to them — must be verified. This raises the bar slightly on what gets filed, since a verified pleading carries the signer's sworn assurance that its contents are true and correct, discouraging casual or unsupported allegations in a proceeding designed to move quickly toward judgment. A party who signs a verified pleading containing allegations it knows to be false takes on a real risk, which is part of why verification is required for every pleading on the list rather than left optional.

Why the list matters for strategy

Because the list of allowed pleadings is closed, a defendant with a claim against the plaintiff needs to raise it as a compulsory counterclaim within the answer itself rather than expecting to file it as a separate pleading later, and neither party should expect to file a reply as a matter of course. This front-loads the strategic decisions of the case into the complaint and the answer, since there is no later pleading stage where an omitted claim or an unaddressed new allegation can simply be raised in due course. Any claim a defendant has against the plaintiff that is not compulsory — one that does not arise from the same occurrence as the ejectment claim itself — falls outside this closed list entirely and has to be pursued in a separate action.

Related provisions

Note. Statute text quoted on this page is reproduced from the official enactment and is linked to the full provision. The explanation around it is general legal information from Vivas & Nobles Law Office, not legal advice. Whether it applies to your situation depends on facts only a lawyer reviewing them can assess.