Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

I assume you mean an unlawful detainer lawsuit has been filed against you? Assuming that is the case, you will be (or may have already been) served with the Summons and Complaint. Read the Summons and Complaint, and it will tell you that you have five (5) days from the date you were served to file a response with the Court. Your response can be one of many - you need to do some research into what the possible responses are. If you do not file a response of some sort within the five (5) days, your landlord can obtain a default, then a judgment, then a writ of possession and evict you. After the five days are up, that eviction could happen as quickly as one week or might take a couple. Depends upon how busy the Court is and how diligent the landlord's attorney is. If you file a response (assuming an answer), then the Court must set the case for hearing within 2 weeks, and you could be evicted as quickly as a week later. Your best bet, if you know you are going to have to move, and cannot legally defend the eviction, is to contact the landlord's attorney and try to work something out in terms of a settlement. Sometimes landlord's attorneys are willing to foregoing the money judgment if you stipulate (agree) to get out by a certain date, and if not, they get immediate judgment and possession of the property.

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