Top 5 Most Common Eviction Notice Mistakes

An eviction is never an easy process. If you’re considering serving an eviction notice, avoid these common mistakes.

1.       Including Utilities, Interest, or Other Fees on a Rent Notice

When you serve a 3-Day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit on a residential tenant, make sure you only include rent that is due for the period listed on the notice. Rent means rent – don’t include any other fees or costs. Those costs can be recovered In a separate lawsuit after the eviction. Leave them off your rent notice, or you could be jeopardizing your case.

2.       Including Saturdays, Sundays and Judicial Holidays

While you might think you know how to count to three, nothing can be simple in California. When you serve a three day notice, it most likely will need to exclude Saturdays, Sundays and judicial holidays. That exclusion must be in writing on the notice – if you don’t have that language, you risk losing your case.

3.       Ignoring Your Local Laws

State law isn’t the only game in town. When you serve an eviction notice, you need to be aware of your local laws. If the property is located in Los Angeles City, unincorporated Los Angeles County, Santa Monica, West Hollywood, Culver City, Inglewood or Glendale (among others), you will need to know your local laws and how they affect the contents of the notice. In some places, local law will extend the number of days that tenants must be given to cure a violation before they can be evicted; in other places, written notice and an opportunity to cure must be given before an eviction notice can be even be served.

4.       Improper Service 

Having a valid notice is not enough – you must serve the notice in accordance with California state law as well as your local law. Verbal notice will never be effective, but even if you have a written notice, you need to 1) give it to the tenant personally, 2) give it to a competent member of the tenant’s household if the tenant is away from their residence and then mail a copy to the residence, or 3) post a copy on the tenant’s door if there’s no one home and then mail a copy to the residence. Emails, texts, or mailing alone will not be sufficient.

5.       Using an Online Form That Is Outdated

Laws concerning evictions have changed rapidly over the past 4 years. COVID-19, a housing shortage, and multiple court cases have caused the laws regulating tenancies to change almost daily. Grabbing a stock form online and filling it out is one of the most common ways to lose an eviction case – there is no guarantee that the notice complies with current state and local laws. If you’re going to use a notice you found on the Internet, check to make sure that it’s been updated recently.

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930 S. La Brea Ave. Suite 204, 
Los Angeles, CA 90036