To evict someone without a lease in California, you have to treat them as a month-to-month tenant and follow the same formal process you would use for anyone else: serve the correct written notice, wait out the notice period, and if they still won’t leave, file an unlawful detainer lawsuit and let the sheriff handle the lockout. There is no shortcut, and no written lease does not mean no tenant rights.
They Are Still a Tenant Under California Law
Once a landlord accepts rent from someone living in the property, California law creates an implied month-to-month tenancy, regardless of whether anything was ever put in writing.1California Department of Real Estate. California Department of Real Estate Reference Book Chapter 9 The tenancy renews automatically each rental period, and the occupant has the full legal status of a tenant.
That status matters. You cannot tell them to leave by the end of the week, change the locks, or move their belongings to the curb. They have the right to remain until the tenancy is properly terminated in writing and, if they refuse, until a court orders them out. The procedure is identical to evicting a tenant whose written lease has expired and rolled over to month-to-month.
Serve the Right Written Notice
Every eviction starts with a written notice. The type and the length depend on why you want them out and how long they’ve been there.
No-Fault Terminations
If the tenant hasn’t done anything wrong and you simply want to end the arrangement, you must give 30 days’ written notice when they have lived in the property for less than one year, and 60 days’ notice once they have been there a year or longer.2California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 1946.1 – Termination of Periodic Tenancy A narrow exception allows a 30-day notice for longer tenancies when the owner has entered escrow with a buyer who plans to live in the property, provided several conditions are met.
Nonpayment and Other Lease Violations
If the tenant owes rent, you serve a 3-Day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit. It must state the exact amount owed, the name and contact information of the person who can accept payment, and either a mailing address or an account number where rent can be paid.3California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 1161 – Unlawful Detainer Leave any of that out and the notice is defective; you’ll have to start over.
Other violations, like an unauthorized pet or an unapproved subletter, call for a 3-Day Notice to Perform Covenants or Quit. The tenant has three days (not counting weekends and court holidays) to fix the problem or leave. For serious misconduct such as illegal activity on the premises, a 3-Day Notice to Quit gives no option to cure.
Just Cause Rules Under AB 1482
The Tenant Protection Act of 2019 adds a significant restriction once a tenant has lived in a covered unit for 12 months or more. Under this law, you cannot end the tenancy for any reason; you need a specific “just cause.”4California Legislative Information. AB 1482 – Tenant Protection Act of 2019 At-fault causes include nonpayment of rent, criminal activity, and lease violations. No-fault causes include the owner or a close family member moving in, or a substantial renovation that requires the unit to be empty.
For a no-fault eviction, you must either pay the tenant relocation assistance equal to one month’s rent or waive the final month’s rent before it comes due. Skip that payment and the termination notice is invalid.4California Legislative Information. AB 1482 – Tenant Protection Act of 2019
Not every property is covered. Single-family homes and condominiums may be exempt if the owner gives the tenant the specific written exemption notice the statute requires. Owner-occupied duplexes and certain newer construction are also excluded. Check your city’s rules too; many California cities have their own just cause ordinances that are stricter than the state law.
The Unlawful Detainer Lawsuit
If the notice period runs out and the tenant is still there, you cannot remove them yourself. The next step is an eviction lawsuit called an unlawful detainer, filed in the superior court for the county where the property sits. You file a Summons and a Complaint (form UD-100) and pay a court filing fee that ranges from $240 to $435 depending on the amount of rent or damages at issue.5California Courts. Summons-Unlawful Detainer-Eviction
The tenant then has to be formally served. After personal service, the tenant has 10 court days to file a written Answer, not counting weekends or court holidays.5California Courts. Summons-Unlawful Detainer-Eviction If the papers were delivered by substituted service (left with another person and mailed), the window is 20 calendar days after mailing.
A tenant who misses that deadline can lose by default, meaning the court grants the eviction without a trial. If the tenant answers, the case moves fast. The court must schedule a trial within 20 days of a party’s request to set a trial date, far quicker than an ordinary civil case.6California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 1170.5 – Trial Timeline The judge can extend the deadline if both sides agree or on a finding of good cause.
After You Win in Court
A judgment in your favor doesn’t put the tenant on the sidewalk. The court issues a Writ of Possession, and the sheriff’s office serves the tenant with a Notice to Vacate giving them five days to move out on their own.7California Courts. After the Eviction Trial Decision If they’re still there after those five days, the sheriff returns to remove them.
A contested eviction in California commonly takes five to eight weeks from start to finish, assuming nothing goes wrong procedurally. An uncontested case where the tenant never answers can finish faster, but even a default judgment requires the court to process paperwork and the sheriff to schedule the lockout.
Do Not Try to Evict the Tenant Yourself
California flatly prohibits self-help evictions. You cannot change the locks, shut off utilities, remove the tenant’s belongings, or take doors or windows off their hinges to pressure someone into leaving. These rules apply whether or not there is a written lease.8California Legislative Information. California Code Civil Code 789.3 – Prohibited Acts by Landlord
A landlord who violates the ban is liable for the tenant’s actual damages plus a penalty of up to $100 for each day the violation continues, with a guaranteed minimum of $250 per incident. The tenant also recovers attorney’s fees, and a court can issue an injunction ordering access restored immediately.8California Legislative Information. California Code Civil Code 789.3 – Prohibited Acts by Landlord Lock a tenant out for a week and you can be looking at well over $1,000 in statutory penalties alone, before any actual damages the tenant proves.
Lodgers Follow a Shorter Path
Removing a lodger is simpler. California defines a lodger as someone renting a room in a home where the owner also lives and keeps access to all shared areas, and the simplified rule applies only when there is one lodger in the home.9California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 1946.5 – Termination of Hiring of Room by Lodger
The owner ends the arrangement with written notice at least as long as the rental payment period. For a lodger who pays monthly, that is 30 days. If the lodger stays past the notice period, their right to remain is terminated by law and they become a trespasser; the owner can then call law enforcement to have them removed without filing an unlawful detainer.9California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 1946.5 – Termination of Hiring of Room by Lodger With two or more lodgers, the shortcut doesn’t apply and you have to use the standard eviction process.
Occupants Who Never Paid Rent
Not everyone living in a property without a lease is a rent-paying tenant. A family member, friend, or partner who moved in with permission but never paid rent is a licensee, not a tenant. The owner can revoke that permission at any time by giving reasonable written notice to leave.
Squatters who entered without permission are trespassers and have no tenant protections, including no right to just cause. The practical reality, though, is messier than the legal theory. If someone has been occupying the property for a while, law enforcement often declines to treat it as trespassing and tells the owner to file an unlawful detainer instead. The safe play, even with an occupant who never paid a dime, is to serve a written notice to quit and, if they stay, go through the courts. Trying to physically remove someone yourself exposes you to the same penalties as an illegal lockout.
Federal Rules That Can Change the Picture
Two federal laws can affect these evictions. The Fair Housing Act prohibits housing discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, and familial status, and it applies to informal and verbal rental arrangements just as it does to signed leases.10U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Housing Discrimination Under the Fair Housing Act Selectively ending month-to-month tenancies along protected lines invites a federal discrimination claim even without a lease in the file.
The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act bars eviction of active-duty military members or their dependents without a court order, as long as the monthly rent does not exceed a threshold the Department of Defense adjusts each year (set at $10,239.63 as of 2025).11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3951 – Evictions and Distress If a servicemember’s ability to pay has been materially affected by military service, the court must grant a stay of at least 90 days. Evicting a protected servicemember without a court order, knowing they’re protected, is a federal misdemeanor.