Eviction Process in California. Step-by-Step Guide

Landlords and property managers need to be knowledgeable about the eviction process in California and what it means to legally evict a tenant.

Because removing a tenant requires due process and careful action.

Especially, if you want to avoid having a tenant stay in your property without paying rent.

Or worse, having a lawsuit against you.

And although it is always recommended to speak with an attorney knowledgeable of eviction laws in California, this guide will walk you through the steps necessary to complete the eviction process in California.

Let’s being…

Reasons to Begin the Eviction Process in California

First and foremost, to evict a tenant, there must be legal reasons for which the person must be removed from the property.

Electing to evict a tenant without legal grounds can backfire and potentially create a bigger problem in the long run.

For that reason, the first step must be to carefully review the reasons why the tenant needs to be removed from the property.

It is also a good idea to check your rental/lease agreement to make sure everything is in order before starting the eviction process.

Reasons to remove a tenant can include:

• Non-payment of rent

• Violation of the rental/lease agreement

• Illegal activity

• Damages to the property bringing down the value

• Property foreclosure

• Expiration of the lease or rental contract

• The person is a squatter

It is very important to note that eviction laws in California prohibit a landlord from self-evicting a tenant from the property without going through the proper legal channels.

Self-evicting a tenant is illegal and can create reasons for the tenant to file a lawsuit against the property owner. Something that can drag the eviction process even further and can make it even more costly to resolve.

Eviction laws in California also make it illegal for a landlord to evict a tenant based on discrimination or retaliation.

That’s why, if for some reason you are unclear to have a valid reason to remove a tenant from your property, it is always the best step to consult an eviction attorney that can guide you through the eviction process in California and make things clear along the way.

Give Notice to the Tenant

Once it has been determined that the tenant must be removed from the property, the first step is to give written notice to the tenant.

Giving notice to the tenant initiates the eviction process, as well as alerts the tenant that you are taking steps to have them correct the situation, or to remove them from the property.

According to eviction laws in California, there are multiple types of eviction notices, depending on the particular case and the desired outcome.

Here we have highlighted the types of notices and their basic overview, but we recommend carefully aligning your case with the appropriate notice.

Or, if in doubt, review your case with an eviction attorney.

Selecting the wrong eviction notice or having errors in the notice, can potentially make you lose the case in court.

You can further review each type of eviction notice by going to California’s Judicial Branch website here.

Types of Eviction Notices in California

These are the types of eviction notices per California’s eviction laws:

3-Day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit.

Can be used when:

• The tenant has not paid the rent on time.

3-Day Notice to Perform Covenants or Quit.

Can be used when:

• The tenant has violated the terms of the contract and the issue can be corrected.

3-Day Notice to Quit.

Can be used when:

• There has been illegal activity.

• The tenant damages the property.

• The tenant threatens the health of others.

• The tenant moves in other people without permission.

30-Day Notice to Quit

Can be used when:

• The tenant is a month-to-month tenant and has been renting for less than 1 year.

60-Day Notice to Quit

Can be used when:

• The tenant is a month-to-month tenant and has been renting for more than 1 year.

Note: In California, if the property is located in a rent-controlled city, the month-to-month tenancy cannot be canceled for just any reason. It must be a valid reason, according to that particular city’s eviction process.

90-Day Notice to Quit

Can be used when:

• The property is part of a subsidized housing program.

How to Deliver Written Notice in California

In addition to selecting the correct notice, the eviction process in California mandates that the written notice must be served to the tenant properly and in a manner that grants the tenant prompt notification that they are being evicted or that they must correct any wrongdoing.

There are three ways you can deliver written notice:

Deliver the Notice in Person

To deliver the notice in person, you, or someone else that you have chosen, can give the notice to the tenant in person. If you have chosen someone else to do it for you, it is important to know that this person must be at least 18 years of age.

Deliver the Notice to a Substitute Person

When delivering the notice, it is a common situation to find that the tenant may not be home. If that is the case, you can leave the notice with someone else in the household, as long as they are at least 18 years of age.

Additionally, you must mail a second copy of the notice to the tenant.

When mailing, it is a good idea to request a certified receipt from the mailing company, for your records.

Post the Notice

It is also common to find that nobody is at home when delivering the notice. In this case, you can secure the notice to the front door or somewhere else where the notice can be easily seen.

With this option, you must also mail a second copy of the notice to the tenant.

Note: It is important to know that with the last two options, the waiting period begins when the second notice is considered served, and that starts the day after the notice is mailed.

File an Unlawful Detainer

Once the notice has been properly delivered and the waiting period has ended, the next step would be to file an unlawful detainer with the county court.

Make sure to allow for the notice’s period to end. Filing an unlawful detainer in California before the notice period ends can have your case dismissed by the court.

Steps to file an unlawful detainer in California:

1. 1. Forms to File

The first step would be to gather the necessary forms to file in court.

The forms are:

• Summons

• Complaint

• Civil Case Cover Sheet

Note: The local county courthouse may require additional forms. Make sure to check your county’s court clerk’s office for additional forms and requirements.

You can find your county’s courthouse here.

1. 1. File Forms in County Court

The second step would be to file your forms with the county courthouse and pay all of the necessary filing fees.

At this time, you will receive various stamped copies of the forms. It is important to note which copies are for you to keep, and which copies are for you to serve to the tenant.

1. 1. Serve the Tenant

Once the county clerk has stamped your forms, the third step would be to serve the tenant with a copy of the unlawful detainer papers (Summons and Complaint).

Unlike eviction notice, the unlawful detainer papers cannot be served by you or anyone else involved in the case, and they must be served by someone at least 18 years old.

A friend that is not involved in the case can be used as a server. However, in California, there are particular cases for which you have to use a registered process server or sheriff to deliver the Summons and Complaint.

The unlawful detainer papers can be served in one of the following ways:

Serve the Notice in Person

With this option, the server must give a copy of the Summons and Complaint to the tenant in person.

Serve the Papers to a Substitute Person

If the tenant is not available, the server can deliver the notice to a substitute person of at least 18 years of age. That person can be a competent member of the household or place of work.

When using this option, you must also mail a copy of the unlawful detainer papers to the tenant at the address where the papers were given to the substitute person.

Posting the papers

Only with the court’s permission, the person serving the papers can post a copy of the summons and complaint at the property. The posting must be somewhere easily visible to the tenant.

Note that with this option, you must also send a copy of the Summons and Complaint via certified mail to the tenant, for the papers to be considered served.

Wait for the Tenant to Respond

The eviction process in California mandates that once the unlawful detainer papers (Summons and Complaint) are properly served to the tenant, you are required to give the tenant the legally required period to respond.

This waiting period can change based on the way the tenant was served.

If served:

In-person – The tenant has 5 business days to respond.

By substituted person or by posting and mailing. – The tenant has 15 days after the day the unlawful detainer papers were mailed to respond. The first 10 days allow enough time for the tenant to either receive the papers from the substituted person or for the tenant to see the posted papers. The next 5 days are the regular mandated period for the tenant to respond.

A tenant in California can choose to respond to the unlawful detainer back to you or to respond by filing a response with the court instead.

Additionally, the tenant also has the option to not respond at all.

And, as the landlord or property manager, your next step, depends if the tenant responds back or not.

If the tenant fails to respond

In California, a tenant that fails to respond within 5 days of receiving the Summons and Complaint may be evicted without having a court hearing.

To do so, you can ask the court for a “default judgment” as soon as the waiting period is over.

If granted, the default judgment rules in favor of the landlord and does not grant the tenant the possibility to make their case in court.

In this case, you have the option to request immediate possession of the property by requesting a “Clerk’s Judgement of Possession” from the court.

This would give you the option to get a writ of Execution fairly quickly and remove the tenant from the property with the sheriff’s help.

However, although a judgment of possession does not allow you to include back rent, you can later ask the court for an additional judgment that could include back rent and/or court costs.

If the tenant responds

If the tenant properly responds to the unlawful detainer, the next step would be for you to request a trial hearing in court.

This moves the eviction process forward to the next step.

Which is…

Present the Case in Trial

The next step in the eviction process in California is to present your case in court.

To do so, you must file a Request to Set Case for Trial form with the county court.

Once filed and processed, which takes about a week, the court will assign the case a trial date, time, and location, and the trial will take place within 20 days.

Most often, the trial is held in front of a judge, but It is also an option to have the case presented in front of a jury if either the landlord or tenant asks for one and pays the necessary fees to have a jury trial.

During the trial, both, the landlord (plaintiff) and the tenant (defendant) will present their case in front of the judge or jury, and a ruling will be made based on the facts presented by each party.

After the Judgment: Writ of Execution

If the judge or jury rules in your favor and decides that the tenant can be evicted, the court will grant a Judgment of Possession.

The judge may also award you with any back rent, damages, filing fees, or attorney’s fees, as they see fit.

Once a judgment of possession is granted, this will give you possession of the property and you are now able to secure a Writ of Execution.

It is important to know that the writ of execution is the legal document that gives the sheriff permission to remove the tenant from the property and without this document, the sheriff would not be able to proceed with the eviction.

As the first step to remove the tenant from the property, the sheriff will serve the tenant with a notice to vacate and allow them 5 days to remove their belongings.

The tenant is legally allowed to file a stay of execution, which if granted by the court, would delay the eviction and grant the tenant additional time to stay in property before they are evicted.

However, if the tenant does not file a stay of execution and chooses to stay in the property after the 5 days, the sheriff will then remove the tenant from the premises and lock them out.

This will then finalize the eviction process and you are now in possession of the property.

As we have mentioned, this is a delicate process and should be handled very carefully. It is always recommended to speak with an attorney knowledgeable of eviction laws in California to protect yourself from any wrongdoing or legal action against you.

How PropertyCtrl Can Protect Your Property

Tenant and lease management are some of the most important aspects of running a rental property.

After all, a vacant property is a property that is not generating income for you or your clients.

For that reason, PropertyCtrl offers a powerful and easy-to-use cloud-based property management software with tools and resources that empower you to take control of every aspect of your rentals.

Including very robust tenant and lease management tools like these:

The information provided on this website does not, and is not intended to, constitute as legal advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available on this site are for general informational purposes only.