Landlord/Tenant Law Services
Whether it involves residential or commercial property, California laws involving evictions are extremely complex and strict protocols must be followed in order to successfully evict a tenant. It is important that you hire an experienced attorney who fully understands the nuances of Landlord/Tenant Law to assist and win your case.
Here at the Law Office of James M. Blucker, we have vast experience in handling the eviction process for both residential and commercial property owners. We're here to help provide you guidance to ensure that your rights and property are protected. A lot of our clients choose us because we strive for expedited results. It's our goal to get your case quickly resolved. Generally, most evictions take approximately 4-8 weeks depending on which county the property is located in and if the tenants file a response to attempt and contest the eviction proceedings. We're familiar with all procedural motions a tenant may file and are ready to defend you!
Notices Required for Eviction
Prior to formally starting the eviction process, a notice to the tenant must be drafted and properly served on the tenant. There are a few different types of notices that can apply with each notice needing specific language pursuant to California law. We can prepare all types of notices to the tenants such as: termination notices, notice to vacate premises, notice to perform covenant or quit, notice to quit and ensure all of those notices are properly served on the tenant. It's important that these notices are served on the tenant correctly, otherwise the property owner risks losing at trial. By having the Law Office of James M. Blucker prepare your notice, you won't have to worry about any legal documents being defective.
Unlawful Detainer Eviction Proceedings
After the expiration of the notice with proper served on the tenant, the legal proceedings may start. Once we have all relevant information, we strive to file your case within 24 hours. Once your case has been filed, attempting to serve the lawsuit on the tenants starts that day. Our law firm always aims to personally serve the tenant, but sometimes the tenant will purposefully avoid being served to delay the process. We are familiar with all responses and strive to reduce the time for the landlord to receive back the property.
Uncontested Response from Tenant
If the tenant doesn't file a response within the time limits, we prepare the appropriate documents to file with court for a default judgment. We then prepare instructions for the Sheriff's Department to do the physical lockout. This would allow you to retain possession of your property back a lot faster rather than when a tenant files a response, resulting in court appearances and trials.
Contested Response from Tenant
Should the tenant file a response to the eviction lawsuit, this will require a court appearance. This adds about 2-4 weeks of extra time until there is a Sheriff's lockout depending on what type of response is filed by the tenant. Once a response has been filed by the tenant, we would then request a trial date to take place as soon as the Court allows. Once a trial date has been set, the property owner or representative will appear as a witness at the legal proceedings to evict the tenant.
Court Trial for Unlawful Detainer
The Constitution provides that every individual be afforded to have their day in court. Most bench trials are short in time, traditionally lasting no more than 1 hour. However, this can change depending on the type of response that the tenant files and if the tenant files to request a jury trial. If a jury trial is requested by the tenant, this can extend trial time for up to a week. The owner or individual that manages the property will be required to attend the bench trial or jury trial as a witness.
After Court Trial for Unlawful Detainer
Once the court issues a judgment in favor of the landlord, we then file a the appropriate paperwork with the court so the Sheriff's Department can perform the lockout. The owner or property manager will need to be present for the Sheriff's lockout along with a locksmith to change the locks, completing the lockout of the tenant. The time it takes for the Sheriff to arrange a lock out of the tenant varies by city and county. Once a tenant is locked out by the Sheriff, the tenant will no longer be able to re-enter the property without your permission, otherwise they will be trespassing.
If Tenant files for Bankruptcy
If the tenant files for Bankruptcy while the legal proceedings are on-going, it effectively puts a temporary stop to all legal proceedings, thus pausing the process to evict the tenant. This can be a very complicated and time-consuming process for the landlord if they were to attempt to navigate their remedies on their own. At Law Office of James M. Blucker, we have handled numerous unlawful detainer cases for landlords where the tenants have filed for Bankruptcy. A relief from automatic stay would need to filed in Federal Bankruptcy Court to permit the landlord to continue their case in State Court. It's always our goal to shorten the time necessary to allow the eviction lawsuit to continue in State Court. Inquire with us if this is applicable to your situation and we'll counsel you how to proceed.
Other Services We Offer
We offer our clients legal advice that covers a wide variety of landlord-tenant issues including: rental application policies, security deposits, notice of rent increases, unauthorized/unknown occupants, owner's right to entry, breach and forfeiture of lease concerns, and security deposit itemization-disposition requirements.
We're Ready to Assist You – Contact Us Today
Here at Law Office of James M. Blucker, we strive to be attentive to your needs. We understand that time can be of the immediate essence in these type of situations. We can be contacted with any questions or inquiries during our business hours or the weekends, by appointment. We handle a large volume of cases on a monthly basis and are constantly overseeing your cases to provide you with the most expedited and zealous legal representation possible.
Should you have any further questions involving landlord-tenant issues, please do not hesitate to call us. We are here to help you.