Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

A little practical advice. Since you do not know the rules and procedures, you should hire an eviction 'help' service or eviction attorney to do this right. Eviction is mind numbingly detail oriented, and the court will deny your claim if there is ANY mistake or failure in your notices, pleadings or procedures. That would result in you starting all over, delaying getting back your property. Check the internet search, or call the local Lawyers Referral Service for names.

You have as long as you want. If you mean how long do you have to give them to move out, that depends on how you acquired the property, how long they have been in the property, and whether they have a lease or are on a month-to-month tenancy. If you acquired the property by foreclosure, you must give them 90 days or to the end of their lease, whichever is longer. If you bought the property through a normal sale transaction, you have to let them stay to the end of their lease if they have one. If they are month to month, you have to give them 30-days notice if they have been in the property less than a year, and 60 days if more than a year. This all assumes they continue to pay rent and otherwise do not breach their lease or rental agreement. If they don't pay rent or commit a non-curable breach of the lease, then its the same as any landlord/tenant - you proceed with eviction. If you give them proper notice and they refuse to leave, you also have to file an eviction proceeding. Mr. Nelson is right that you don't want to do that yourself unless you REALLY know what you are doing.