Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

You may only claim in the complaint the rent that was currently due and unpaid as of the date of the 3-day pay or quit notice. In the complaint you may allege hold over damages in the amount of a rent at a per day amount (example if the rent is $1000 per month, the daily holdover rate is $33,33 per day for each day beyond the 3-day period. You need to be very careful about how you plead this. The 3-day notice is considered your revocation of the tenant's possessory interest in the property so you have no further claims for rent other than damages unless you opt to reinstate the rental agreement as part of a settlement. I would not plan on re-letting the unit until the eviction matter is completed. If you do have a good potential new tenant, this may be motivation to negotiate a move-out date once you have filed the complaint.