Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Here are the instructions from an official web site, I think the Judicial Council's:

"If rent is 14 or more consecutive days overdue and the landlord has good reason to believe that the tenant has moved out without letting the landlord know, this is called �abandonment.�

If this happens, the landlord can send the tenant a Notice of Belief of Abandonment that includes the name of the tenant and the address of the rental unit. It must also say that this is a �Notice of Belief of Abandonment� and say what date the landlord is ending the lease or rental agreement. The date must be at least 15 days after the landlord serves the notice in person, or 18 days after he or she serves the notice by mail. The landlord must also sign and date the notice.

The tenant has 15 days if served in person, or 18 days if served by mail, to send the landlord a response telling the landlord that he or she has not abandoned the premises, or to pay the landlord all or part of the rent that is owed.

If the tenant does not answer the notice, the landlord can move the tenant�s belongings out and rent the place to someone else without having to file an unlawful detainer case.

BUT the landlord must be very careful because if the rent was not overdue for 14 days, or he or she did not wait long enough for the tenant to answer, or he or she had no good reason to think that the tenant moved out, the tenant could sue the landlord for �wrongful eviction.�

Also, if you look at Civil Code section 1951.3, it gives brief but rather specific instructions as to what to fill in in the blanks. You can find the Civil Code on line or at most libraries.