Eviction/Unlawful Detainer

Rent Increase Caps for 2026 City of L.A. (LARSO): For rent-stabilized units built before Oct. 1, 1978, the maximum annual rent increase is capped at 3% starting February 2, 2026. Extra fees for gas, electricity, or additional dependents are no longer allowed. Unincorporated L.A. County (RSTPO): For eligible units built on or before Feb. 1, 1995, the max increase is 1.93% (up to 2.93% for small landlords and 3.93% for luxury units) through June 30, 2026. State Law (AB 1482): F

If you are dealing with a specialized tenancy—like a houseboat in a marina—standard eviction rules can get complicated very quickly. Landlords and tenants often clash over what kind of pre-filing notice is legally required before an unlawful detainer lawsuit can even begin. In Parsons v. Superior Court, a California appellate court tackled how tenants can challenge defective eviction notices when the dispute requires looking at evidence outside the paperwork itself. The Big M

If you are a tenant facing an eviction, or a landlord seeking to recover possession of property, it is important to understand what a motion to quash can and cannot accomplish in an unlawful detainer case. For years, some litigants relied on language from older cases to argue that a motion to quash service of summons could be used to attack defects in an unlawful detainer complaint or challenge whether the complaint stated a valid cause of action. In Stancil v. Superior Court

When Statutes Aren't Enough: How Eshagian v. Cepeda Shows Judge-Made Law in Action When we think of "the law," we often picture massive books filled with statutes written by the legislature. But in the American legal system, statutes only tell half the story. The other half is judge-made law (also known as common law or case law). Because lawmakers can't predict every messy, real-world scenario, judges step in to interpret statutes, fill in the blanks, and create binding prec

Cities and the state of California are constantly wrestling over who gets to write the rules for evictions. Landlords say state law sets the process, and cities can't slow it down. Cities say they have real power to protect tenants. In April 2026, a California appeals court had to referee exactly this fight — and the outcome hinged on a distinction that sounds technical but actually matters a lot: the difference between a "substantive" rule and a "procedural" one. This is the

Cities and the state of California are constantly wrestling over who gets to write the rules for evictions. Landlords say state law sets the process, and cities can't slow it down. Cities say they have real power to protect tenants. In April 2026, a California appeals court had to referee exactly this fight — and the outcome hinged on a distinction that sounds technical but actually matters a lot: the difference between a "substantive" rule and a "procedural" one. This is the

Sometimes the biggest legal battles come down to the smallest details — like whether a piece of paper was filed six days too soon. That's the entire story of Dr. Leevil, LLC v. Westlake Health Care Center, a 2018 California Supreme Court decision that turned an eviction case into a lesson about reading statutes exactly as written. The Setup A company called Westlake Village Property owned a piece of commercial real estate in Thousand Oaks and leased it to Westlake Health Care

Here's a strange but important legal puzzle: a tenant gets evicted because a court ruled against her. She appeals — and wins. The eviction judgment gets thrown out. But by then, she's already been kicked out, her landlord has already re-rented the space to someone else, and nothing in the appeal actually gives her the store back or any money for what she lost. Does she have any way to recover those losses? That's exactly the situation in Munoz v. MacMillan, a California appea

Eviction cases are built for speed. If a tenant hasn't paid rent, a landlord shouldn't have to wait months just to get their property back — that's the whole point of "unlawful detainer" court, California's fast-track eviction process. But what happens when the "tenant" claims he's not really a tenant at all — that he's the true owner, and the person suing him is just holding the property on his behalf? Can a court settle a complicated ownership dispute in the same rushed, no

Stancil v. Superior Court (2021) 11 Cal.5th 381 For years, unlawful detainer defendants and their counsel have reached for the motion to quash service of summons as a first strike weapon — not just to challenge jurisdiction, but to attack the substance of the landlord's complaint itself. Some Court of Appeal authority even seemed to bless that approach. The California Supreme Court's decision in Stancil shuts that door and draws a clean line between what a motion to quash can

Vella v. Hudgins (1977) 20 Cal.3d 251 Landlords, purchasers at trustee's sales, and tenants alike sometimes assume that once an unlawful detainer judgment is final, the losing party's claims about fraud, title, or the underlying obligation are gone for good. The California Supreme Court's decision in Vella v. Hudgins explains why that assumption is usually wrong — and lays out the narrow circumstances where it can be right. The Facts Nancy Vella owned property encumbered by a

Some cases take years not because the underlying facts are complicated, but because one side works hard to keep them from ever reaching trial. A recent California Court of Appeal decision affirming a default judgment — entered after the trial court struck a defendant's answer as a sanction — offers a detailed look at several procedural doctrines that come up together surprisingly often: terminating sanctions for litigation misconduct, the special, narrow path for challenging

Forgery cases raise an intuitive question: if someone forges your signature on a document, shouldn't the document at least remain valid against the person who actually signed it — or the person who committed the forgery? A recent California Court of Appeal decision answers that question clearly, and in doing so offers a useful tour through several recurring appellate principles that come up whenever a party tries to argue a trial court got something wrong. The Setup A landlor

Forming an LLC to hold real estate is one of the most common pieces of advice given to property owners, largely for liability protection. But a recent California Court of Appeal decision is a sharp reminder that the entity you created to shield yourself also has to be the one that shows up in court — and that forgetting this can be fatal to an eviction case, even when the underlying facts clearly favor the landlord. The Setup Two individuals owned commercial property, which t

Landlords must give every Tenant a notice about the Tenant Right to Counsel Program. The Department will make a notice form in English and in other common languages. If the Rental Agreement is written in a language other than English, the Landlord must give the notice in both English and the language of the Rental Agreement. Landlords must give this notice in these ways: When the Tenant gets a notice to move out or a notice ending their tenancy; and By posting a copy of the

A. Paying the Fee Every landlord must pay $31.05 each year for every rental unit they own. This is called the “Just Cause Enforcement Fee.” The payment is due on January 1 each year. If it’s not paid by February 28 , it’s late. If a landlord doesn’t pay on time, they are “delinquent” and must pay an extra penalty (the Department decides how much). B. Rules Before Collecting Rent A landlord cannot ask for or take rent from tenants until they : Pay the fee (and any late penal

The owner or person with the right to possess the property does not create a landlord‑tenant relationship with a licensee. The...

Here is a water downed example of a UD trial brief: TRIAL BRIEF (Jury Version) What This Case Is About This case is about who has the...

What Happened: The Landlord filed a complaint to evict the Tenant from a business property. Years earlier, the Landlord and Tenant had...

🏠 What Happened: Mr. BigBear lived in a house in Los Angeles. His ex-partner, Ms. Itsallmine, said she owned the house and told the...