Landlord’s Eviction Process
California Eviction Company Explains The Eviction Steps for Landlords
4 Steps in Landlord’s Eviction Process in California
- PREPARATION AND SERVICE OF EVICTION NOTICE TO TENANTS
- 3, 30, 60, or 90 day notice is served
Most of the evictions, unlawful detainers, are due to non-payment of rent. The landlord begins the eviction process by serving a 3-Day Notice to Pay or Quit. Once the three days are over and the tenant has not paid nor left the premises, we file the eviction lawsuit.
- UNLAWFUL DETAINER SUIT
- In the state of California, an eviction lawsuit is known as an “unlawful detainer” suit. We draft and file the unlawful detainer summons and complaint in the local Superior Court.
- SERVICE OF THE LAWSUIT
- It usually takes a few days to serve the tenant(s) with a copy of the lawsuit, assuming the tenant(s) are not evading service. Once tenant(s) and occupants are personally served with a copy of the filed unlawful detainer lawsuit they have 5 calendar days to formally file an Answer to the lawsuit.
- After serving an eviction notice (also referred to as an “Eviction Lawsuit”, your tenant may choose to fight the action. In most cases, this means that he or she will file an answer in court. You should receive a copy of this answer from the tenant’s lawyer by mail. After your lawyer has filed a request for a trial, it is required by law that your eviction case be heard in court within 20 days.Eviction is a hurried up civil lawsuit for the California landlord to regain possession of his/her property. The landlord is seeking the Court’s help to obtain physical possession of the rental property. Do not try to physically evict tenants, turn off the utilities, lock out tenants, etc.
- CLERK’S DEFAULT JUDGMENT FOR POSSESSION
- If the tenant(s) do not file an Answer, this happens in the majority of our cases, to the eviction complaint within the 5 days from date of service, our office will draft and file the Request for Default and get Judgment for Possession. We also prepare the Writ of Possession for you. In most cases, these proceedings take only about 4 to 6 weeks.In the event that the tenant(s) do file an Answer to the eviction complaint, this happens in less than 25% of our cases, we will draft and file the Request/Counter Request for Court Trial. The trial should then take place within approximately 20 days. There is no law that states you must hire an attorney to represent you at court trial. You may represent yourself, but in the event you wish to be represented by a California Eviction Attorney we will appoint one to you for a flat-fee of an average of $350 for one court hearing. Most court trials conclude in one hearing. One of the landlords or an agent of the landlord must appear at trial to take the witness stand. If you win, we will have drafted for you the Court’s Judgment for Possession and the Writ of Possession.
Not each tenant eviction matter is as straightforward as it appears there are things that could happen that could drag your case out. Not to worry, Evictions & Judgments is prepared to complete oppositions to tenant’s motion, stipulations, posing order, bankruptcy relief, and much more.
ADDITIONAL SERVICES POST EVICTION JUDGEMENT
- SHERIFF LOCKOUT
- If after the Judgment for Possession the tenant(s) are still at the premises you will need to get the Sheriffs involvement. We can submit your Writ of Possession for filing and take the Writ of Possession and deliver it to the Sheriff’s Department and pay their fee to evict the tenant(s). The Sheriffs take about three weeks to evict, depending the county and backlog. Within 72 hours, the local Sheriffs will place a Notice to Evict on the tenant’s front door specifying a date and time when the Sheriffs will return to evict. Our office will inform the landlord and the landlord will be there on the exact date and time to meet the Sheriffs to change the locks. If you cannot be present at the time and date of the lockout we can send a representative from our office for an additional fee. We can also coordinate and hire a locksmith and towing to be present for your lockout if vehicles are left on the premises.
- MONEY JUDGMENT
- We can prepare and file for a monetary judgment order of the unpaid rent, attorneys fees, interest and costs you have incurred during this process. If the tenant(s) do not comply with the money judgment we can assist in preparing and filing a small claims suit. With a small claims judgment you may recover money on damages caused by tenant(s) such as property damage, stolen items, cleaning fees, and more.