Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

Re: 3-day Pay or Quit

Your friend "someone" is incorrect. However, you can't be evicted immediately. The law does not recognize an infant defense to eviction, but after the three days, landlord has to go to court and file an unlawful detainer, which is the eviction. You then have five days to file an answer, and then case will be listed for trial in several weeks. If you don't file an answer, the sheriff will serve you with papers giving you five days to move. On the sixth day, sheriff will lock you out. However, the problem is that the eviction will be on your credit history, and it will be almost impossible to rent again (for years) without a co-signor. Don't listen to friend! Luckily, this one was right, but for the wrong reason. Talk to landlord, and try to work out some kind of deal, because the unlawful detainer will cost somewhere upwards of $600, and he may be interested in avoiding that expense. Good luck!

Re: 3-day Pay or Quit

The law does not allow you extra time simply because you have an infant. If you have not moved from the unit after the expiration of the 3-day notice (I presume based on the failure to pay rent), the landlord can file an eviction lawsuit.

You can buy yourself a few extra weeks if you file an answer to the eviction lawsuit and/or filing for bankruptcy. However, those are very drastic measures. As Mr. Bennett correctly noted, now might be a good time to contact the landlord to negotiate a settlement to avoid litigation.