How to Evict a Tenant in California
Evicting a tenant under California law is a time-consuming and multi-step process. The only way to legally evict a tenant is by filing a lawsuit. Being a landlord, you have the right to remove tenants who violate their lease agreements.
Landlords often want to complete the eviction process quickly to avoid losing rent money and to stop other tenants from moving out because of bad living conditions caused by the problem tenant.
California calls eviction lawsuits unlawful detainer actions, and you should expect the entire process to take about one month. If the tenant just moves out within three days of receiving the notice to get out, the problem is solved much quicker, of course.
The state of California also gives priority to eviction lawsuits over all other legal matters apart from criminal cases. This guide will outline all the steps necessary to evict a tenant.
Legal Grounds to Evict the Tenant
Before you can proceed with evicting a tenant, you need a strong reason for doing so. Evictions are warranted for:
- Failure to pay rent
- Damages to property that bring down its value
- Breaking the terms of the rental agreement, such as having disallowed pets or sub-tenants
- Stays after the lease is finished.
- Uses the property for an unlawful purpose
- Uses manufacture, sells or owns illegal drugs on the property
- Causes trouble to other neighbors and tenants, even after being asked to stop
In some situations, the tenant is allowed to fix the problem. He could pay the unpaid rent or get rid of pets if they are not allowed.
A landlord is not allowed to use self-help steps to evict a tenant. You cannot physically lock out a tenant or cut off utility services. Landlords should never threaten unlawful methods to remove tenants. In California and other states, you must go through this unlawful detainer process.
If you do unlawful methods to evict tenants, they can sue you for damages, and you can be fined up to $2,000 per day. You may not file an unlawful detainer action in punishment for the tenant exercising a right or complaining about the conditions to an inspector or agency.
In California, rent is usually paid on the first day of the month, with exceptions for holidays. However, lease agreements may define a different date in writing in the lease. If there is no set scheduled time in the agreement, it will default to the first of the month.
Give the Tenant a Proper Notice
If you want to evict the tenant, you must serve the tenant with a three-day notice of the rent due. The notice should declare that if the tenant fails to pay the rent due within three days of the date of the notice, you will start taking steps to evict. You can ask only for the amount that was due, so fees and penalties must be excluded. In addition the notice must says:
- Name, address and phone number of the person or financial institution to whom the rent must be paid
- The date you served the tenant with the demand to pay or leave
- Name and address of the tenant
- The total amount of rent
- A certificate of service that defines how you provided the notice to the tenant
- The signature of the landlord
The three-day notice is also used when the tenant has broken a rental agreement term. If the violation is correctable, such as having a pet when no pets are allowed, then you must give the tenant three days to solve the problem. If the violation is based on illegal activity or other violations that are not easily solved, then the notice is an order for the tenant to leave the unit within three days.
If you evict a tenant from a month-to-month lease, you must give 30 days notice to move. If the tenant has lived in the unit for more than one year, the notice must be 60 days. In government-subsidized housing, the notice must be within 90 days.
Landlords do not have to give a 30-day notice if the tenant is creating a legal problem by engaging in criminal activity or endangering neighbors. You must provide a three-day notice to vacate the premises.
The tenant has three choices upon acceptance of a three-day notice of the rent due. The first one is the tenant may pay the rent within the three-day window. The second is the tenant could move out within three days of receiving the three-day rent notice. Finally, if the tenant is not replying to the notice or moving out, the landlord may move forward in the next step of eviction proceedings: an unlawful detainer lawsuit filed in court.
