California Penal Code 602.5 makes it a misdemeanor to enter or stay inside someone’s home without permission. Subdivision (a) covers the basic offense and carries up to six months in county jail and a $1,000 fine. Subdivision (b) applies when a resident or other authorized person is home during the entry, and it doubles the jail exposure to one year. The statute protects residential privacy, and it applies whether or not the person had any intention of stealing or committing another crime inside.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code PEN 602.5
What the Prosecution Has to Prove
To get a conviction under 602.5(a), the prosecutor has to establish three elements: that you entered or remained in a residential dwelling belonging to someone else, that you did so without consent from the owner, the owner’s agent, or the person in lawful possession, and that your entry or remaining was willful rather than accidental.2Justia. CALCRIM No. 2932 Trespass Entry Into Dwelling “Willful” means you did it on purpose. Tripping through an open door doesn’t count.
Consent can come from the homeowner, a tenant with a valid lease, a subtenant, or anyone else with a legal right to occupy the space. Permission from any one of those people makes the entry lawful. But consent has limits. A guest invited into the living room doesn’t have permission to wander into locked bedrooms, and a visitor told to leave who refuses has crossed from invited guest into trespasser.
That “remaining” piece catches people off guard. You can walk into a home with full permission and still violate the statute if the occupant tells you to leave and you stay.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code PEN 602.5 The moment consent is revoked and you remain, you’re committing the offense. This comes up constantly in domestic disputes, roommate conflicts, and situations where a former tenant returns after a lease has ended.
The Difference Between 602.5(a) and 602.5(b)
Subdivision (b) creates an aggravated version for entries into occupied dwellings. If a resident or any other person authorized to be there is present at any point during the incident, the charge automatically upgrades.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code PEN 602.5
You don’t have to know someone is home. There’s no requirement of physical contact, confrontation, or even awareness that another person is in the house. Enter an apartment you believe is empty while a resident is asleep in the back bedroom, and the charge elevates on its own. The law treats unauthorized entry into an occupied home as carrying much higher risk of a dangerous confrontation, and the penalty reflects that.
What Counts as a Dwelling
The statute protects any noncommercial residential space. It names dwelling houses and apartments explicitly, then extends to any “other residential place,” which sweeps in individual rooms within shared houses, hotel rooms, motel rooms, and similar living quarters.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code PEN 602.5 What matters is whether the space functions as somebody’s residence.
A private bedroom in a shared house gets the same protection as a standalone single-family home. A hotel room occupied by a guest qualifies. Commercial offices, retail stores, and public buildings do not, and unauthorized entry into those spaces falls under the general trespass provisions of Penal Code 602 instead.3California Legislative Information. California Penal Code PEN 602
How 602.5 Compares to Burglary and General Trespass
California has three overlapping statutes, and the differences matter because the penalties are wildly different.
Penal Code 602 is general trespass. It covers dozens of specific scenarios across all kinds of property: entering posted land, refusing to leave after being asked, damaging fences, and many more.3California Legislative Information. California Penal Code PEN 602
Penal Code 602.5 is narrower. It applies only to residential dwellings, and it doesn’t require posted signs or a prior request to leave. The unauthorized entry alone is enough.
Penal Code 459 is burglary, and it’s the most serious of the three. Burglary requires proof that the person entered with the intent to commit theft or a felony inside.4California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 459 First-degree burglary of an inhabited dwelling is always a felony, with potential state prison time. A 602.5 violation stays a misdemeanor regardless of the circumstances. When prosecutors can’t prove intent to commit another crime inside, 602.5 gives them a way to charge the unauthorized entry anyway.
Penalties and Sentencing
A conviction under 602.5(a) is a standard misdemeanor. The statute doesn’t set its own penalty for subdivision (a), so the default under Penal Code 19 controls: up to six months in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.5California Legislative Information. California Penal Code PEN 19
Aggravated trespass under 602.5(b) carries up to one year in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code PEN 602.5
First-time offenders rarely serve the maximum on either version. Judges frequently impose informal (summary) probation, typically for one to two years. Probation conditions usually include fines and court costs, community service, and a stay-away order keeping the defendant off the victim’s property. Violating any condition gives the judge authority to revoke probation and send the defendant to jail.
Restitution to the Victim
If the unauthorized entry caused economic losses like a broken door, damaged lock, or property that needs replacing, the court is required to order restitution. Under Penal Code 1202.4, restitution covers replacement cost, repair costs, and other documented economic losses from the crime.6California Legislative Information. California Penal Code PEN 1202.4 The court must order full restitution, and if the exact amount isn’t known at sentencing, a later hearing can set it. Restitution orders are enforceable as civil judgments, so the victim can pursue collection even after the criminal case closes.
Defenses That Actually Work
Several defenses can defeat a 602.5 charge, depending on the facts.
You Had Consent
The most direct defense is that you had permission to be there. Text messages, voicemails, or witness testimony showing the owner or occupant invited you in can undercut the prosecution’s case entirely. Consent can also be implied by a pattern of prior interactions, such as a friend who has always been welcome to stop by unannounced. The prosecution has to prove lack of consent beyond a reasonable doubt.
The Entry Wasn’t Willful
Because the statute requires a willful entry, someone who walked into the wrong apartment in an identical-looking complex has a real defense. Intoxication severe enough to negate the ability to form the intent to enter can also apply, though selling that to a jury is another question.
Necessity
California recognizes a necessity defense when someone commits a crime to prevent a greater harm. Under CALCRIM 3403, you have to show you acted in an emergency to prevent significant bodily harm, had no adequate legal alternative, didn’t create a greater danger than the one you avoided, and reasonably believed the act was necessary.7Justia. CALCRIM No. 3403 Necessity Breaking into a neighbor’s house to rescue someone from a fire or a medical emergency fits. The defendant carries the burden of proving necessity by a preponderance of the evidence, not beyond a reasonable doubt.
Good-Faith Belief in a Right to Occupy
If you genuinely and honestly believed you had a legal right to be in the dwelling, that belief can negate the willfulness element. A former tenant who honestly believed the lease hadn’t expired, or a co-owner who believed they retained access rights, may raise this defense. The belief doesn’t have to be correct, but it does have to be honest, and the less reasonable it looks, the harder it becomes to persuade a jury.
How Long the DA Has to File Charges
Because both versions of 602.5 are misdemeanors, prosecutors have one year from the date of the offense to file charges. Penal Code 802 sets that deadline for misdemeanors generally, absent a specific exception.8California Legislative Information. California Penal Code PEN 802 If the district attorney doesn’t file within that window, the case is time-barred.
Clearing the Conviction Later
A 602.5 conviction doesn’t have to stay on your record permanently. Under Penal Code 1203.4, after you complete probation or are discharged early, you can petition the court to withdraw your guilty plea and have the case dismissed.9California Legislative Information. California Penal Code PEN 1203.4 Granting the petition releases you from most penalties and disabilities tied to the conviction. The prosecution has to receive 15 days’ notice before the court rules.
The relief isn’t total. Even after dismissal, you still have to disclose the conviction when applying for public office or for a state or local professional license.9California Legislative Information. California Penal Code PEN 1203.4 A single misdemeanor trespass conviction is unlikely to sink a licensing application on its own, but it still has to be reported honestly.
For immigration purposes, a residential trespass conviction is generally not classified as a crime involving moral turpitude and does not typically trigger deportation or inadmissibility. Immigration law is fact-specific, though, and any non-citizen facing charges should talk to an immigration attorney before accepting a plea.