2024 Eviction Process in California: Laws for Landlords & Property Managers

In California law, landlords must follow a series of steps to evict a tenant legally. The eviction process involves all of the following:

1. File forms with the court
2. Serve the notice to the tenant
3. Tenant either responds or doesn’t
4. Final court hearing

There are exact requirements to end a tenancy with different procedures required for different situations. This article provides an overview for the landlords to follow for the eviction process. In some communities with rent control ordinances, additional rules in terminating a tenancy may be imposed.

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Now, let’s dive in. 

Eviction Reasons

1. Unable to pay rent after receiving a notice

Tenants cannot be evicted unlawfully in the state of California. However, a landlord has the right to evict a tenant after failing to pay rent on time.

In California’s housing law, the rent is considered late the day after its due date. There is a grace period stipulated in the rental/lease agreement that every tenant must understand.

The landlord can issue a 3-Day Notice to Pay or Quit if the tenants failed to pay the rent, which is already past due.

See Cal. Code of Civ. Proc. § 1161(2)

In the eviction notice, there must be no other late fees or interest rates included. Only if the tenants failed to pay the rent after he/she received the notice, then the landlord may continue with the eviction process.

2. Violating the rental lease agreement

Your tenants signed a rental lease agreement and must uphold their responsibilities under the terms of the agreement.

If your tenants violate any terms and conditions in their lease agreement, you can issue a  3-Day Notice to Cure Violations or Move Out to resolve the issues and avoid eviction.

Here are examples of tenant violations:

• property damage
• owning a pet if it’s not allowed
• exceeding the number of residents allowed

Take note that illegal activity would not fall into another category.

The landlord may proceed with the eviction process after their tenants failed to comply with the compliance notice.

3. Repeated intentional damages or violations

If the tenants committed serious repeat violations, the landlord could issue a Three-Day Unconditional Notice to Quit and need to move out of the unit three days after receiving the notice.

The tenants will not be given time to resolve the issues. The landlord can file an eviction lawsuit if they remain in the property after three days of asking to move out.

The reasons to issue a notice to quit to tenants are the following:

• involved in illegal activities within the premises
• created severe trouble at the rental unit
• caused irreparable or material damage to the property
• assigned the rental unit to another person or sublet in the unit, both of which violates the rental agreement

4. The tenants have no lease, or the lease ended

In California, landlords in rent-controlled cities cannot terminate a tenancy without probable cause. But in all other areas, if the tenants stay in the property after the lease term has expired, the landlord may pursue an eviction process.

For your own California lease agreement, visit DoorLoop's Forms Page to download a template along with many other forms.

Filing a Complaint

1. How to File a Complaint

After finding a probable cause for the eviction process, the landlord can file a complaint in court to evict his/her tenants. In California, the filing fees range from $385-$435 and an additional $40 for a Writ of Execution issuance.

Serving the Tenant

1. How to Serve a Tenant

Anyone who is at least 18 years old and not part of the case can serve the tenant with the complaint within 60 days of filing, or the case could be dismissed.

The landlords can serve the Summons and Complaint through the following ways:

1. Personal Service: The server gives the tenant the Summons and Complaint in person.
2. Substituted Service: If the tenant is not around, the server can give the court papers to any competent member of the household. The server must also mail a copy to the tenant at the same address.
3. Posting and Mailing: The landlord can only use this service only if the court gives permission. The server can post a copy of the Summons and Complaint on the visible part of the property. Then, the landlord will mail another copy to the tenant’s last known address.

The best method to legally serve your tenant is to either send them a letter by certified mail or from a process server directly serving them in person.

2. After Serving the Summons and Complaint

The tenants will be given a chance to respond after receiving a copy of the summons and complaint.

3. Timeline

The landlords must serve the complaint within 60 days, or the court will dismiss the eviction action.

Want a complete overview of the California landlord-tenant laws? Visit DoorLoop's Complete Guide to California's Landlord-Tenant Laws to learn more.

<table style="width:100%"><tr><th>Lease Agreement</th><th>Term of Stay</th><th>Notice to Receive</th></tr><tr><td>Fixed Term</td><td>One Year</td><td>Not needed prior to eviction for the expired term lease. Landlords can proceed with the eviction procedure.</td></tr><tr><td>Monthly Lease</td><td>Month-to-month</td><td>30-60 days notice depending on how long they rented for.</td></tr><tr><td>Less than one year</td><td>Month-to-month, but more than one year</td><td>30-Day Notice to Quit</td></tr><tr><td>More than one year</td><td>Month-to-month, but more than one year</td><td>60-Day Notice to Quit</td></tr><tr><td>No lease agreement</td><td>Pay as you go</td><td>The landlord can evict the tenants any time</td></tr></table>

Notice to Comply

Before filing for an eviction with the court, you need to issue the tenant a notice to comply. You can either download the free PDF or Word template, or create your California eviction notice from here using a step-by-step wizard that guides you through the entire process to make sure you are submitting the legally correct notice.

Keep in mind, the step-by-step wizard will ask you to pay a small fee at the end - it's a small price to pay to ensure legal compliance and protection. The last thing you want is to go to court only to find out you did the first process incorrect.

Asking for Possession

1. Filing a Motion to Obtain Judgment and get a Judgment for Possession

Before you can evict your tenant, you have to wait for the legally required “answer period,” which can be anywhere from 5-15 days. If the tenant didn’t respond to your eviction complaints, you would win the case and get a default judgment.

If the tenant didn’t respond, the landlord has a few options:

1. The landlord can ask for a default judgment without a hearing, which can take anywhere from a few days to weeks, depending on the judicial officer’s schedule.
2. The landlord can get an immediate order of possession from the clerk of the court office. This is only applicable if the landlord is not asking for money back.

These two options will not allow the tenants to defend their case if they appeal to remain in the rental unit.

2. Next procedure if the tenant disagreed and replied

Tenants have five business days to respond and another ten days for delivery by mail to complete the 15 days to respond before the hearing process.

Upon receiving the tenants’ response, the landlord will file a request for a hearing in court. The hearing will be scheduled within twenty days after the hearing request was made.

Getting Possession

1. After the landlord wins the case

If the landlord wins the case, the judge will issue a Writ of Execution so that the eviction process will take place.

The Writ of Execution is the last notice that the tenants will receive. They need to remove their belongings before the sheriff removes them by force.

The Writ of Execution may be issued on the same day of the hearing upon request, or it may take up to several days to receive.

The tenants can appeal to extend their stay up to 40 days and file for a Stay of Execution. If the court grants their request, they will be given the grace period of 40 days to move out. They have to comply, or failure to do so may result in forced eviction by the property sheriff.

2. Move out process

After the Writ of Execution has been served to the tenants, they will be given a grace period of 5 days to vacate the property. The sheriff will execute the eviction and forcibly remove them if they remain in the property after the grace period given to them.

3. Timeline

The tenants have to move out within five days after they have received the Writ of Execution.

California Eviction Timeline

Here is an average timeline for evicting a tenant legally in California. If the tenant contests in court, it will extend the timeline.

<table style="width:100%"><tr><th>Notice Received by Tenants</th><th>Average Timeline</th><th>Important Things to Remember</th></tr><tr><td>Initial Notice Period</td><td>3-15 days</td><td>Give your tenant a written notice prior to the eviction process.</td></tr><tr><td>Issuance and Posting of Summons and Complaint</td><td>4-5 days</td><td>Make sure that a third person will serve the Summons and Complaints and not you, as a defendant.</td></tr><tr><td>Tenant Response Period</td><td>5 business days</td><td>Wait for the required time for the tenant to respond. The tenant may or may not respond, which will determine the next step.</td></tr><tr><td>Court Ruling on the Eviction and Posting of Writ of Possession</td><td>5 days</td><td>If you win the case, the judge will give you a Judgment of Possession. Then, a Writ of Execution. Lastly, the assigned sheriff will serve the tenant with a notice to vacate the property.</td></tr><tr><td>Return of Possession</td><td>Within 24 hours</td><td>If the court lets the tenant remain in the rental after filing a Stay of Execution, your tenant has to pay the rent for that period he/she stays in the property.</td></tr></table>

Showing Evidence

1. How to keep good records

If the tenant disagrees with the request to begin the eviction process and they reply to the court, it’s important that you keep extremely good records of everything so you can provide proof to the judge and win your case. Without this kind of proof, it could be very difficult for you to prove your case and win. This part can make or break your entire eviction request in the event of a dispute.

You can stay organized by:

1. Keeping a physical paper trail - This gets VERY hard to search through, takes up a lot of storage space, and could get lost, damaged, stolen, or burnt in a fire.
2. Scanning documents - Scan every document into your computer. A great scanner is the Brother ADS-1700W for under $200 or the Fujitsu ScanSnap iX1500 for $400.
3. Backups - Store and backup every file using Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, or any other option that is easily searchable. This could be a lot more useful and efficient compared to the physical paper trail.
4. PMS - Use a property management software to save everything from lease agreements, signed documents, violations, emails, notes, invoices, payments, reminders, maintenance requests, pictures, videos, and anything you can imagine. This is used best when you also scan every document into your software.

2. Evidence to show for not paying rent

If the tenant doesn’t pay rent, and they dispute that claim, it’s important that you show the judge the following:

1. Your lease agreement - Showing the terms of the agreement, when rent is due, and any penalties for late payment.
2. All payments - Showing all previous payments, how they were normally made (check, credit card, ACH, etc…), and what date they were normally paid on.
3. Any payment returns - If their check bounced, their bank account had insufficient funds, or they did a chargeback dispute on their credit card, show this to the Judge. Also show any fees your bank may have charged you, and any penalties you are owed according to your lease agreement.
4. All messages - If you sent your tenant automated or manual payment reminders by text, email, a letter, or mail, it’s important to show this. While it’s usually not needed, it’s still good to show that they were aware of the situation and were given time to cure and make payment. This is why it’s always best to have everything in writing instead of any phone calls or face-to-face meetings.

3. Evidence to show for lease violations

If you are evicting the tenant for lease violations, for example, noise complaints, unauthorized pets, or property damages, it’s important to show proof from any of the following methods:

1. Security Cameras - If you have a surveillance system that can show them committing the crime or lease violation, it’s safe to say you will normally win this dispute.
2. Video - If you didn’t catch them in the act, the next best thing is to record a video with your phone of any damages or the lease violation.
3. Pictures - They say a picture is worth a thousand words. In this case, a picture could be worth thousands of dollars! Even if you take a video, it’s important to show the Judge any pictures too as it’s usually easier to see by email or printed.
4. Lease Terms - Once again, show the court which term they violated in their lease agreement. Don’t worry if you don’t have every single term spelled out in your rental agreement. If the violation is bad enough, it might not be needed to have it written. As a good practice though, start adding all of the potential reasons to evict a tenant into your agreement, potentially for future situations with similar violations.