To evict a month-to-month tenant in California, you need to confirm whether the Tenant Protection Act requires you to state a just cause, serve a written termination notice of either 30 or 60 days using one of three legally recognized delivery methods, file an unlawful detainer lawsuit in Superior Court if the tenant does not leave, win a judgment for possession, and then obtain a writ of possession so the county sheriff can carry out the lockout. From the first notice to the sheriff handing you the keys, the process usually runs six to eight weeks when nothing goes wrong. Contested cases and crowded court calendars can stretch it well past that.
Each step has to be done in order and done correctly. A single procedural mistake, especially in the notice or the way it was served, is the single most common reason California unlawful detainer cases get dismissed.
Step 1: Decide Whether You Need a Just Cause
The first question is whether AB 1482, the Tenant Protection Act of 2019, applies to your tenancy. It does once every tenant in the unit has lived there at least 12 months, or once any single tenant has been there 24 months or more.1California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 1946.2 If your tenant moved in less than a year ago and no other occupant crosses the 24-month line, you can end the tenancy with a notice that states no reason at all.
Several property types are exempt from AB 1482:
- Buildings completed within the last 15 years on a rolling basis. In 2026, that means anything built after January 1, 2011.
- Owner-occupied duplexes where you live in one unit and rent the other.
- Single-family homes and condos, but only if the owner is not a corporation, REIT, or LLC with a corporate member, and the owner has given written notice of the exemption.
- Owner-occupied properties where the owner rents no more than two bedrooms or units, including accessory dwelling units.
Exempt from AB 1482 does not mean exempt from just cause. Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, and other cities have their own rent stabilization and just cause ordinances that often cover properties the state law does not reach.2SF.gov. The California Tenant Protection Act of 2019 (AB 1482) Check your local rules before you assume you can serve a no-cause notice.
Step 2: Pick the Right Ground, and Know What It Costs
When just cause applies, the law splits permissible reasons into at-fault and no-fault categories. The distinction controls both your notice obligations and whether you owe the tenant money.
At-Fault Grounds
At-fault termination means the tenant did something wrong. The common grounds are unpaid rent, breach of a material lease term, nuisance or illegal activity in the unit, refusing to allow lawful entry after proper notice, and refusing to sign a renewal lease with substantially similar terms. At-fault terminations generally begin with a short cure period, typically three days for nonpayment of rent, giving the tenant a chance to fix the problem before you can proceed.3Official County of Marin website. AB1482 Just Cause for Eviction
No-Fault Grounds
No-fault termination means the tenant has done nothing wrong, but you have a recognized reason to recover possession:
- You or an immediate family member intend to occupy the unit as a primary residence.
- You are permanently removing the unit from the rental market under the Ellis Act (Government Code Section 7060).
- The unit needs renovations substantial enough that the tenant cannot safely stay during the work.
- A government agency or court has ordered the unit vacated.
Every no-fault termination carries a relocation obligation. Under AB 1482, you must either pay the tenant one month of their current rent as relocation assistance or waive their final month’s rent, and the termination notice must state which option you are using.1California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 1946.2 Many local ordinances require significantly more, with amounts tied to bedroom count, tenant age, disability status, or length of tenancy. Confirm the local figure before you send anything.
Choosing the wrong category or failing to state the specific reason in your notice is a dismissal in waiting.
Step 3: Write and Serve the Termination Notice
California Civil Code Section 1946.1 sets the notice length by how long the tenant has lived in the unit. Under one year, 30 days’ written notice. One year or longer, 60 days.4California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 1946.1 The notice has to state the exact date the tenancy ends, and for AB 1482-covered properties, it must state the just cause reason. Vague language or the wrong date gives the tenant an easy win later in court. Standardized forms through local apartment associations cut down on drafting errors.
Some local ordinances extend notice periods for certain no-fault terminations, especially Ellis Act withdrawals, where notice can run 120 days or more for elderly or disabled tenants.
Delivery has to follow one of the three methods in Code of Civil Procedure Section 1162:5California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 1162
- Personal service: handing the notice directly to the tenant.
- Substituted service: if the tenant cannot be found at home or work, leaving the notice with another adult at either location and mailing a copy to the home address.
- Post and mail: if no one can be found at the property and the tenant’s address and workplace cannot be determined, posting the notice visibly on the property and mailing a copy.
Whoever delivers the notice fills out a Proof of Service afterward, swearing to when, where, and how. This document is critical if the tenant later claims they never received it. Use a professional process server or an uninvolved adult rather than serving the notice yourself, so your own credibility is not on the line at trial.
Step 4: File the Unlawful Detainer Lawsuit
If the tenant does not leave by the date on the notice, you file an Unlawful Detainer complaint in California Superior Court. The filing packet is a Summons, a Complaint for Unlawful Detainer, and a civil case cover sheet. Many courts now require electronic filing.
Filing fees as of January 1, 2026, depend on the amount of back rent or damages you are claiming:
- Up to $10,000: $240
- $10,001 to $35,000: $385
- Over $35,000: $435
Riverside, San Bernardino, and a few other counties tack on a local courthouse construction surcharge of $15 to $30.6California Courts. Statewide Civil Fee Schedule Effective January 1, 2026
Once the court processes your filing, the tenant has to be formally served with the Summons and Complaint. You cannot use the same person who served the original termination notice if that person is a party to the case. A registered process server or the sheriff’s office handles this.
Step 5: Response Window and Trial
After being served, the tenant has 10 court days to file a written response. Court days exclude weekends and judicial holidays, so the real calendar window is roughly two weeks. This period was extended from five days by AB 2347, effective 2025. If no response comes in, you can ask the court for a default judgment granting you possession.
If the tenant does respond, you file a Request to Set Case for Trial. The statute says the hearing should be scheduled within 20 days of that request. In practice, caseloads in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Alameda frequently push the actual trial out to 45 or 70 days. Either side can demand a jury, which adds more delay.
At trial, expect the tenant to raise every available defense: improper notice, habitability problems, retaliation, discrimination, or missing relocation assistance. Judges in unlawful detainer cases read landlord paperwork carefully. One procedural slip can send you back to the beginning.
Step 6: Writ of Possession and Sheriff Lockout
Winning at trial does not let you change the locks. You apply to the court for a Writ of Possession, a court order directing the county sheriff to remove the occupants. The sheriff’s fee to execute a writ on residential property typically runs $150 to $200, varying by county.7California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 715.010
The sheriff serves the tenant with a copy of the writ and a notice giving them five days to leave. If they are still there after five days, the sheriff returns, physically removes the occupants, and hands possession to you. That is the moment you can change the locks. Enforcement from writ issuance to lockout generally takes one to three weeks, depending on the sheriff department’s workload.
After the Lockout: Deposit, Belongings, and Unpaid Rent
Three obligations kick in once you have the unit back. You have 21 days to either return the full security deposit or send an itemized statement explaining every deduction, with receipts attached for anything over $125.8California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 1950.5 Bad-faith withholding exposes you to a penalty of up to twice the deposit on top of what you legitimately owe.9California Courts | Self Help Guide. Guide to Security Deposits in California
If the tenant left belongings behind, you cannot throw them out. Civil Code Section 1984 requires you to send a Notice of Right to Reclaim Abandoned Property and give the former tenant at least 15 days after personal delivery, or 18 days after mailing, to retrieve the items and pay reasonable storage costs.10California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 1984 Items reasonably believed to be worth more than $750 must be sold at public auction after published notice; anything under that you can keep, sell, or discard.
If the judgment included unpaid rent, collecting that money is a separate project. You will need a Writ of Execution (form EJ-130, $40 fee) to pursue a bank levy or wage garnishment, and the writ expires 180 days after issuance.11Judicial Branch of California. How to Get a Writ of Execution Collecting from a former tenant who could not pay rent is often difficult, and many landlords treat the deposit deduction as the realistic recovery.
What You Cannot Do: Self-Help Evictions
At no point in this process can you take matters into your own hands. Civil Code Section 789.3 makes it illegal to change the locks, shut off utilities, remove doors or windows, or haul a tenant’s belongings outside to force them out.12California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 789.3 The penalty is $100 for every day the violation continues, plus the tenant’s actual damages, plus attorney’s fees. A landlord who shuts off water on a Monday and does not restore it until a court hearing the following week has already racked up a four-figure penalty before any actual damages are calculated. The only legal path to removing a tenant runs through the court process above.
Defenses That Can Derail the Case
Retaliation. Civil Code Section 1942.5 creates a rebuttable presumption that an eviction is retaliatory if it starts within 180 days of the tenant complaining about habitability, filing a complaint with a housing agency, or exercising any other legal right.13California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 1942.5 The court assumes retaliation unless you can prove otherwise. If possible, avoid initiating any termination within that window unless there is a clear, documented violation like nonpayment.
Discrimination. Federal and California fair housing laws prohibit evictions motivated by race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or disability, and California adds sexual orientation, gender identity, source of income, and immigration status.14U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Housing Discrimination Under the Fair Housing Act Fair housing claims carry damages well beyond the eviction case itself.
Active military service. Under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, active-duty service members whose ability to pay rent is materially affected by military service can request a 90-day stay of eviction proceedings, with the court able to grant another 90 days on top.15Military OneSource. Servicemembers Civil Relief Act
Procedural defects. The most common defense is simply that the landlord’s paperwork is wrong. A notice with the wrong date, a missing just cause statement, improper service, or no relocation assistance where it was owed each gives the tenant grounds for dismissal. Judges do not treat these as technicalities. In unlawful detainer court, procedure is substance.