Eviction/Unlawful Detainer

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...

The law says that when someone files a request for an eviction trial (using Form UD-150), the court has to set the trial within 20 days. This rule is stated in CCP section 1170.5(a). But the tenant’s lawyer, Mr. Cheatem, says he must get a 10-day notice. Is he right? Well, it depends on what he means. The rule is: if the notice of the date of trial is sent by mail, it has to be mailed at least 10 days before the trial date. This is from CCP section 594(b). It does not mean th

On October 4, 2019, Mr. Landlord filed a complaint to evict Mr. Tenant from a property on 42nd Street in Los Angeles. The issue was that...

Mr. Landlord filed an eviction case against Mr. Tenant for not paying rent after a three-day notice on June 12, 2017. The notice said Mr....

Between February 2023 and April 2025, the Los Angeles Housing Department (LAHD) received a staggering 210,901 eviction notices,...

California is not a self help state--A LANDLORD CANNOT LEGALLY EVICT A TENANT WITHOUT A COURT ORDER I inform my clients that an unlawful detainer/eviction lawsuit is among the most procedurally precise cases that can be filed. The statutory provisions are outlined in the Code of Civil Procedure starting with section 1161 and must be followed meticulously. Not adhering to these rules exactly results in failure. CCP 1161 comprises four sections addressing the termination of a t