Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

I stay in an apartment and share a lease with a friend of mine. We were unable to pay rent and were served with a 3-day notice to pay or quit. A day before the unlawful detainer was served the landlord served us with a letter titled "24 hour notice prior to filing unlawful detainer" The landlord stated in the letter that this was served to me as a courtesy and as a last attempt to have me contact the rental office prior to legal actions. It says I can contact them and arrange payment on the rent due. I called the office within these 24 hours and told them I could have rent within the next two weeks they declined this and followed with filing the eviction. My question is, does this "24 hour notice" nullify the 3-day notice to pay or quit. They denied my arrangement regardless of the letter stating I could arrange payments with them. Do I have any fighting chance? Also, my roomate decided to leave and let the landlord know she was leaving. Yet, she is still named as a defendant in the complaint. Does she need to sign any answers to the complaint that I present or is my signature enough?


Asked on 10/11/09, 11:24 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
George Shers Law Offices of Georges H. Shers

From the language you cite as to the 24 hour notice, it does not negate the 3 day notice as it merely says you can avoid the lawsuit by paying now [if you paid any of the rent and they accepted the payment, that would mean the 3 day notice was no longer correct as to the rent owed and would require a new 3 day notice for the unpaid balance; so to some extent the Notice was just telling you what the law was].

They had the right to refuse to take a future payment as agreeing to probably would negate the 3 day notice and would require them to trust you another 2 weeks to pay the rent when the whole reason for the suit was your not paying the rent. Why would they now trust you to pay in two weeks?

Your roommate is being sued because she is on the lease and has occupied the unit; to get the court to award full possession back from any tenants of the right to stay there, everyone must be named and a judgment taken against them. Otherwise, you could be evicted but she would not and she could then invite you to stay there.

She must file a separate answer, even if it is an exact copy of what you file.

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Answered on 10/12/09, 1:45 am


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