How long does the eviction process take in California?
May 17th, 2011 | 
Author: This is for residential property in Orange County. I am a new landlord, do I need to hire an attorney for this? or is it pretty simple process?
Posted in Landlord Tenant Law
Access Evictions.com
Free eviction forms. Landlord-tenant law.
Posted in Landlord Tenant Law
- saved_astronaut on Ive been Evicted, and had a car Repoed?
- Matt on Ive been Evicted, and had a car Repoed?
- StephenWeinstein on Ive been Evicted, and had a car Repoed?
- dogszncatsz on Ive been Evicted, and had a car Repoed?
- RichardL on Ive been Evicted, and had a car Repoed?
- Sharon T on Ive been Evicted, and had a car Repoed?
- RNK on and it continues….please help with this landlord/tenant issue?
- jcturtle27 on and it continues….please help with this landlord/tenant issue?
- ru2tipsy2c on and it continues….please help with this landlord/tenant issue?
- Pobept K on and it continues….please help with this landlord/tenant issue?
- Ive been Evicted, and had a car Repoed?
- and it continues….please help with this landlord/tenant issue?
- my landlord forced me to take down a religious symbol because another tenant complained that it offended him;?
- Landlord locked deceased mothers belongings?
- Should I take my landlord to small claims court?
- Can my landlord end my lease if I have no violations?
- What do I need to do to fight my landlord/Insurance co for excessive charges to repair my apartment after fire?
- need legal advice about paying rent in forclosing home?
- Landlord Tenant Dispute – Stolen Items?
- Landlord refuses to return deposit and now trying to sue us.?
Probably a good idea to hire an attorney and to request copies of all documents and to attend all hearings, and treat this as a learning experience for you. In future you can do it yourself.
First, give the legal notice to tenant, personally handing it to them. Notices available in stationery store, Notice to Quit, etc. Have to give this notice BEFORE you can even start the eviction process with the courts.
Strongly advise having attorney first time, but if you don’t, you should go to the LL/Tenant court and sit there one morning hearing the cases go before the judge and seeing them thrown out for lack of notice, lack of service, etc.
Number One Rule for LLs: Be Fair, but it never pays to be nice. Serve people promptly and take action against them promptly or you lose a lot of rent and a lot of time.
Since you have never done an eviction before I suggest you get a lawyer, because if you make one mistake in timing or paperwork then the whole eviction gets dropped and you have to start over. You have to give a notice to quit or pay rent (not sure how long that is for CA, but I think it is up to you), then if they don’t do that you file an eviction with the court and have a sheriff serve them papers to go to court. They have 5 days to reply to the court. If they do not reply to the court then you automatically win the eviction and I believe they have 24 hours to leave. Be prepared if your tenants do decide to reply to the court because they will be arguing on why they refuse to pay rent (bad maintenance, bugs, rats, safety issues and also if you improperly did the quit rent and eviction papers).
I have been evicted a few times and represented myself and won every case, so be prepared. Keep all documents of any repairs that were made, etc.
It takes about 3 weeks. If you do not know what you are doing it is a good idea to hire a service. The going rate on an eviction is 600, but the judges will award you that in addition to rent, so you will eventually recover the funds.
It will not hurt to ask for immediate wage garnishment, but most judges in CA make you try collection agencies for a year.