What's the Process for Evicting a Tenant?
“Evictions” means that the tenant(s) no longer have the legal right to reside in the rental home and they can even be arrested for failure to vacate the premises, according to the California Courts Self-Help Center. But if you are the tenant or the landlord, keep in mind that a court evictions process is required.
Ascertain a Valid Reason
Your local and state laws may vary, but normally you can legally evict a tenant for a number of reasons, according to the California Courts Self-Help Center. If she doesn’t pay rent on time, has unauthorized pets and won’t eliminate them from the property or willfully damages the property and won’t fix the issue, you can usually start the eviction process. Other suitable reasons include whether the tenant always harasses neighbors or uses the property for illegal activities such as dealing drugs. In certain communities, you could also evict a tenant who won’t leave once the lease duration has expired. Under state and federal laws, you can’t evict a tenant due to race, age, sex, sexual orientation or handicap.
First Notice
As soon as you have decided a legitimate reason to evict the tenant, you must first issue her a three-day notice to either correct the situation or leave, according to the California Courts Self-Help Center.
Filing a Lawsuit
In case the tenant ignores your written note and doesn’t cover the rent, correct the situation or vacate the residence, you need to visit your local courthouse to proceed through the flooding process, according to the California Courts Self-Help Center. However severe the situation, you can’t legally lock someone out of his residence, eliminate his possessions or have his usefulness services terminated. You must submit an application for an unlawful detainer through your local civil court clerk’s office. In California, it usually costs about $300 (as of 2010) to submit all required paperwork to get an unlawful detainer.
Serving the Lawsuit
Once court staff approves your unlawful detainer paperwork, then you should serve the tenant together with the resulting court complaint and summons, according to the California Courts Self-Help Center. The tenant can either leave the property or attend a scheduled court date to dispute the flooding.
Finalizing the Eviction
Once the tenant has been served with the complaint and summons, she usually has anywhere from five to 15 days to vacate the property or respond to the evictions papers, according to the California Courts Self-Help Center. If the tenant moves out and doesn’t have any rent, the local judge will usually discount the unlawful detainer case. If the renter decides to object to the evictions detect, then you must go through a court trial process with either a judge or a jury. In case the tenant ignores the situation loses the trial and doesn’t go out, a sheriff’s deputy can eliminate him from the property.