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Evictions

Legal Resources

Where to File a Case

Read about where to file your lawsuit or case. Information on jurisdiction and venue.

Information for Fee Waiver

If you cannot afford the filing fee or other court costs, you may qualify to have these fees and costs waived by the court.

If You Are a Tenant and Your Landlord Wants to Evict You

This resource will help you understand your responsibilities as the tenant in case your landlord has started the eviction process.

A Guide to Court Rules

This section will give you general guidelines for how to best prepare yourself for court.

Eviction FAQs

Check out California Court’s FAQ’s on Eviction.

Eviction – The Legal Process

This resource provides general instructions regarding the eviction process inside or outside the court.

I Was Just Served with Court Eviction Papers – What Do I Do?

If your landlord wants to evict you, he or she must file a court case against you called an “unlawful detainer.” The landlord must have someone serve you (give you) the court papers called a “Summons” and “Complaint.”

You, the tenant, only have 5 calendar days after the date you received the court papers to respond to the court.

To count the 5 calendar days, start counting with the day after you received the papers. You must count Saturdays and Sundays, but you don’t count court holidays. If the fifth day falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or court holiday you have until the end of the next court business day to file a response with the court.

If you want to defend yourself in the eviction, it is important that you file a response (called an “answer”) on time. If you have not filed a response by the end of the 5 days, the landlord can ask the court for a “default judgment.” This means that the landlord automatically wins the case and gets the rental property back from you. If this happens, you will not get a chance to go in front of the court and tell the court your side of the story.

Tenants often have defenses to eviction cases.

Representing Yourself

Whatever the reason, you have the right to represent yourself, to be your own lawyer in all cases in California.

My Landlord Wants to Evict me. Can He Lock Me Out of My Home?

No. It is illegal for a landlord to lockout a tenant (renter), remove a tenant’s belongings, cut off utilities (such as water or electricity), or remove outside windows or doors in order to force a tenant to leave.

When a landlord wants to evict a tenant, the landlord  must go through the court eviction process. A tenant can stay in the home until the end of the court eviction process.

If the tenant loses the eviction case, the Sheriff will come to the tenant’s home and put a “Notice to Vacate” on the home. This notice gives the tenant at least 5 days to move out. If the tenant does not move out by the date on the Notice to Vacate, the Sheriff will come back and lock the tenant out of the home.

If your landlord illegally locks you out of your home, cuts off your utilities, removes windows or doors, or takes your belongings to get you out of the home before the court eviction process is over, you can:

1. Call the police and ask for help getting back into the home.
2. File an illegal lockout court case against your landlord and ask the judge to order your landlord to let you back into your home, return your belongings or turn your utilities back on.
3. The court can also order your landlord to pay you for your monetary losses due to the lockout and pay you up to $100 a day for the time you were locked out of your home.