Tenants calling our office will be auto-charged a service fee to their cell phone accounts!

Evicting the Tenant At Will In California

There are situations where the owner of a rental property may allow a person or family to live in a rental property where there is no rental agreement as to the amount of rent or the duration of the tenancy. Civil Code Section 789 defines under California Law as the permissive use of the rental property without an agreement regarding the amount of rent or the length of tenancy.

Evicting the Tenant At Will In California

To terminate this type of tenancy and commence an Unlawful Detainer Action the owner of the rental property must serve the occupant with a 30-Day Notice to Terminate a Tenancy at Will.  The Notice may be served by posting it on the rental property and mailing the notice to the occupant by regular or certified mail.

Once the Notice has been served the owner of the rental property must serve an Unlawful Detainer Complaint using the official forms from the State of California paying careful attention to make sure the forms are filled out correctly.

The Summons, Complaint and Prejudgment Claim must be served according to California Law by either personal service, substitute service if the person to be served was not at home, or by obtaining a posting order from the court. The occupant will have five days to file a response to the complaint after the service is completed.

If the occupant fails to file a response to the complaint a Request for Entry of Default/Default Judgment can be filed with the court to obtain possession of the rental property and monetary damages.

After the Request for Default/Default Judgment has been filed and signed by the court a Writ of Possession can be issued which is then taken to the County Sheriff’s Department for Processing. The Sheriff’s Department will post a Notice of Lockout on the rental property giving the occupant the date and time when the Writ of Possession will be enforced. If the tenant fails to move by the date of the lockout the Sheriff’s Department is authorized under California Law to take all steps necessary to remove all the occupants.

If the occupant files an Answer to the Complaint as his/her/its response a Request for a Trial date must be filed with the court. Under California Law the courts have 10 to 20 days from the date the Request for a Trial Date is filed to set a trial date for an Unlawful Detainer matter.

All parties to the case must appear at the trial date to present testimony and documentary evidence to support the claims made in the documents filed with the court.

The owner of the rental property must prove (1) his/her/its ownership interest in the rental property; (2) the approximate date the occupant(s) took possession of the rental property; (3) the lack of an agreement as to rent and length of the permissive use of the rental property; (4) lawful service of the 30-Day Notice to Quit; and (5) the fair daily rental value of the rental property.

If the owner of the rental property proves these facts by a preponderance of the evidence the owner of the rental property will be awarded a judgment for possession of the rental property and monetary damages equaling the daily rental value from the date of the expiration of the Notice to the date of Judgment.

As stated above once the judgment is entered a Writ of Possession will be issued and served on the occupants to enforce the judgment.

This type of Unlawful Detainer Action can be very useful to the owner of real property to evict someone who has been living in the rental property with the permission of the owner without paying rent.  However, the steps outlined above must be strictly followed.

At Fast Eviction Service, help on any of the issues discussed in this article is simply a click or phone call away. Email intake@fastevict.com or call our office at (800) 686-8686 to discuss your questions for a free evaluation of your case.

Here are some good reasons why you should hire and build a relationship with a good landlord lawyer to help you navigate the legal and expensive liabilities a landlord can incur with their real estate without a clear understanding of the law that can have a major impact on the profitability of your property investment. Read More...

Tenant eviction involves many legal details. You first have to properly serve the correct notice and give the tenant time to respond. If they do not, then a case has to be filed in court with an eviction notice and request a hearing. If as a landlord you miss out on any details, the judge may rule the case in favor of the tenant and you have to start the process over again costing more time and money. Read More...

No matter how experienced and well-versed you are as a landlord, the probability of your tenant filing a lawsuit against you cannot be overlooked. Landlords can actually prevent most lawsuits by simply being attentive, hardworking and proactive. Here are the best practices that might help you in preventing and avoiding tenant lawsuits. Read More...