Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

Re: unlawful detainer

If they served a Prejudgment Claim of Right to Possession, then you should complete that and you would be added to the case. Then, you would have some additional time to answer. If not, you can decide whether to take the risk that when the sheriff shows up tell them you're not on the lease nor are you on the writ of possession, so they might have to start all over or the sheriff could try to evict you, anyway.

Of course, you can do the honorable thing and call the attorney for the new owner and ask to stay a couple of weeks, perhaps by paying some rent for the privilege.