Los Angeles County is the largest and most complicated eviction jurisdiction in California. It has more courthouses, more separate city ordinances, and more filings than anywhere else in the state, and all of that complexity sits on top of the same short response deadline every California tenant gets. If you have been served here, the volume of the system is not on your side. Nothing waits for you to figure out where to file.
We have been helping Los Angeles County tenants respond on time for thirty years, from an office in Diamond Bar at the county’s eastern edge. Whatever you were handed, read it to us over the phone and you will know your deadline and your options within a few minutes.
The court
Eviction cases in this county are filed in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles. The county is covered by a large number of courthouse locations, and unlawful detainer filings are directed to the courthouse serving the area where the property sits. The correct location appears on your summons.
This matters more here than in smaller counties. Filing at the wrong courthouse can cost you days, and days are the entire budget in an unlawful detainer case.
Cities we serve in Los Angeles County
We prepare and file responses for tenants throughout the county, including Los Angeles, Long Beach, Pasadena, Pomona, Glendale, Torrance, Lancaster, El Monte, Inglewood, and Santa Clarita, along with the many smaller cities and unincorporated areas in between.
Because a number of cities in this county have their own tenant protection rules on top of state law, the property address is one of the first things we ask for. Two apartments a mile apart can be governed by different requirements.
What we prepare
- Unlawful Detainer Answer, form UD-105. Your formal response to the lawsuit, prepared and filed before your deadline.
- Stay of eviction requests. Emergency filings asking the court to postpone a lockout after a sheriff’s notice has been posted.
- Notice response guidance. Review of your 3-day, 30-day, or 60-day notice for defects and a plain explanation of what it means.
- Motions and demurrers. Challenges to defective notices and complaints where an answer is not the right first move.
- Foreclosure evictions. Support for tenants and former owners after a property has been sold.
- Filing and deadline tracking. Every court date monitored, with 24/7 online access to your file’s progress.
Your deadline
If you were served with a summons and complaint, you generally have 5 court days to file a written response. Court days exclude Saturdays, Sundays, and court holidays. If nothing is on file when that window closes, the landlord can request entry of default, and a default judgment leads to a writ of possession and a sheriff lockout without your side ever being heard.
If you were handed a notice instead of court papers, you are at an earlier stage and you have more room, but that notice is already running.
Start here
- What can I do if I’m being evicted? covers every stage and what still works at each one.
- How to respond to an unlawful detainer walks through the UD-105 answer and the defenses it raises.
- Eviction court dates and deadlines explains how to read your summons and why court days are not calendar days.
- Can I stop an eviction after judgment? is for anyone who already has a notice from the sheriff.
Call now
Our phones are answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, because eviction papers do not arrive on a schedule. Call (951) 702-7771 and read us the first page of what you were served. The consultation is free, and by the end of the call you will know exactly what your deadline is and what has to be filed before it.
Los Angeles County questions
Which court handles my eviction case in Los Angeles County?
Unlawful detainer cases are heard in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles. The county is served by many courthouses across a very large area, and eviction filings are assigned by the location of the property. The correct courthouse is printed on your summons, and filing in the wrong one wastes days you may not have.
Do Los Angeles city rules apply to my eviction?
Los Angeles County contains dozens of separate cities, and several of them have their own tenant protection ordinances layered on top of state law. Which rules apply depends on the address of the property, not on where the landlord lives or where the case is filed. Tell us the property address and we will sort out what applies.
How fast do I need to act in Los Angeles County?
The same as anywhere else in California. If you have been served with a summons and complaint you generally have 5 court days to file a response. Los Angeles courthouses are among the busiest in the state, which makes filing early rather than at the deadline genuinely valuable.
Do you handle cases across the whole county?
Yes. We work throughout Los Angeles County, from the South Bay to the San Fernando Valley to the San Gabriel Valley and the Antelope Valley, and our office in Diamond Bar sits at the eastern edge of the county.
This website provides general information about the California eviction process and is not legal advice.