How to respond to an unlawful detainer in California

An unlawful detainer is the lawsuit California landlords file to take back possession of a rental. Learning how to respond to an unlawful detainer in California is not complicated, but it is unusually unforgiving, because the response window is measured in court days rather than the weeks a normal civil defendant gets. Everything below assumes you have already been served with a summons and a complaint. If you only have a notice from your landlord, the case has not been filed yet and you are at an earlier and better stage.

What you were served with

An unlawful detainer packet normally contains two things: a summons that tells you that you are being sued and how long you have to respond, and a complaint that sets out the landlord’s version of events. The complaint is a Judicial Council form and it usually has the notice attached to it as an exhibit. Read the attached notice, not just the complaint, because the notice is where most eviction cases are won or lost.

Note the date you were served and how you were served. Personal delivery, substituted service on another adult at the property, and posting with a mailed copy are treated differently, and the difference can change your deadline and can itself be a defense.

The 5 court day deadline

You generally have 5 court days after service to file a written response. Court days exclude weekends and court holidays, so five court days is usually about a calendar week. That sounds like breathing room and it is not. The response has to be prepared, signed, filed with the correct court, and served on the other side, and courts reject filings for formatting and signature problems every day.

Count from the date of service, not the date you first read the papers, not the date printed on the complaint, and not the date the notice expired. If you are unsure, treat the deadline as sooner rather than later.

Filing the answer: form UD-105

The standard response is the Answer, Unlawful Detainer, Judicial Council form UD-105. It is a short form with a long shadow. You check the boxes for the defenses that apply, add a brief statement of the facts, sign it, and file it.

The defenses raised most often in California unlawful detainer answers include:

• The notice was defective. Wrong amount demanded, non-rent charges bundled into a rent demand, wrong parties named, wrong property described, no payment instructions, or a period counted incorrectly.
• The rent was paid, or was tendered and refused. If you paid, or tried to pay in full within the notice period and the landlord would not take it, that matters.
• Breach of the warranty of habitability. Conditions the landlord knew about and failed to repair can reduce or offset what is owed.
• Improper service. If the summons and complaint were not served in a way the law allows, the court may not have jurisdiction over you.
• Retaliation or discrimination. An eviction filed because you complained, organized, or belong to a protected class is not a lawful eviction.
• Waiver or estoppel. Accepting rent after the notice period, or after a claimed breach, can undo the landlord’s own notice.
• Required procedure was not followed. Some tenancies require a stated just cause, specific notice language, relocation assistance, or compliance with a local ordinance.

Attach the fee, or a fee waiver request if you cannot afford it. Then serve a copy on the landlord’s attorney or the landlord and file the proof of service.

When something other than an answer comes first

An answer is not always the right opening move. If service was improper, a motion to quash service of summons challenges the court’s power over you before you ever address the merits. If the complaint fails to state a valid case even taking it at face value, a demurrer attacks it directly. If parts of the complaint are improper, a motion to strike can remove them.

These filings have their own deadlines, their own hearing requirements, and their own risks, and choosing wrong can waste the only week you had. This is the single most useful thing an experienced set of eyes gives you: five minutes of reading your papers tells us which door to go through. Our eviction court dates and deadlines guide walks through what happens after each of those choices.

What happens if you do not respond

If nothing is on file when the deadline passes, the landlord can request entry of default. A default means the court treats the allegations as uncontested. A default judgment for possession follows, then a writ of possession, then the sheriff posts a notice to vacate, and then the lockout. This whole sequence can run in a short span of time, and each step is harder to unwind than the one before it.

Defaults can sometimes be set aside, particularly where service was improper or where there is a genuine excusable reason. But a motion to set aside is uncertain, expensive in time you no longer have, and entirely avoidable. Read our guide on stopping an eviction after judgment if you are already past this point.

After your answer is filed

Filing is not the end of the case, it is the start of it. Either side can request that the case be set for trial, and unlawful detainer trials are set on an expedited basis, so the trial date can arrive quickly. There may be a settlement conference, and many cases resolve there on terms both sides can live with, including move-out dates with time to plan and agreements that keep an eviction judgment off your record.

From the moment your answer is on file, the dates matter continuously. We calendar all of them, and you get 24/7 online access to your file so you can check where things stand at any hour.

Get your response filed

We prepare and file unlawful detainer answers across seven California counties, including Riverside County, and we do it on the timeline the court actually gives you. Call (951) 702-7771, day or night, and read us your summons. The consultation is free.

This website provides general information about the California eviction process and is not legal advice.