California's landlord tenant law specifies a detailed procedure that must be followed to legally evict a tenant. The procedure also applies to a situation in which the landlord is also the employer of the tenant, with some differences from the eviction procedure for a regular, non-employee tenant. The employer landlord is never allowed to just throw out the employee tenant.

Employee as Tenant The eviction law usually requires that the landlord has cause to evict the tenant, such as non-payment of rent, or breaking a provision of the lease, such as having a prohibited pet. If the tenant is employed by the landlord and the landlord provides the residence rent free as part of the employment, the landlord can go immediately to court to evict the employee upon the termination of the employment. This situation waives the normal requirement to serve an advance notice to the tenant. However, if the arrangement requires a rent payment or the tenant still works for the landlord, the regular notice requirements apply.

Notices and Service The landlord must serve advance notice to the tenant before filing for an eviction with the court. For cases in which the tenant has not paid the rent, broke a provision of the lease or engaged in illegal conduct, a three-day notice is required. For the landlord to end the lease, 30 days is required when the tenant has lived there less than a year. Sixty days is required if the tenant has lived there for over a year. The notice must be served to the tenant personally or by posting the notice on the tenant's front door combined with mailing a copy of the notice to the tenant.

Unlawful Detainer Action After the notice period, the landlord files for an Unlawful Detainer Action with the Superior Court. Legal notice will be served on the tenant, who has five days to file an answer to the landlord's complaint. A court hearing is usually held within 20 days after this. At the hearing, both the landlord and tenant can testify and present evidence. Either may use an attorney. If the court rules for the tenant, no eviction occurs and the landlord may be ordered to pay the tenant's legal costs and expenses. If the landlord wins, the court will issue him a writ of possession.

Physical Removal The landlord will file the writ of possession with the local sheriff. A copy of the writ must be legally served on the tenant, who will then have five days to vacate the residence. After this period, the sheriff can then physically eject the tenant, plus lock him out of the rental. Only the sheriff is legally allowed to remove the tenant. The landlord is specifically prohibited, at any point, from taking any self action, including locking the tenant out, cutting off utilities or seizing any of the tenant's property.

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