California Landlord–Tenant Law
How Do I Stop My Eviction in California?
If you were served with an Unlawful Detainer Summons, you can still fight to keep your home. This guide covers the response deadlines by method of service, your three options for responding, what happens at each hearing, and how a trial — bench or jury — actually unfolds. If you have been served, call Tenant Eviction Defense immediately at (657) 510-6534.
The Eviction Process and Your Due Process Rights
The single most important date in your case is your response deadline. Under Code of Civil Procedure section 1167, as amended by Assembly Bill 2347 effective January 1, 2025, a tenant generally has 10 court days to file a response — an Answer, a Demurrer, or a Motion to Quash. Court days exclude Saturdays, Sundays, and judicial holidays, so the deadline usually falls about two weeks after service, not ten calendar days. Read our full guide to counting your response deadline.
Exactly when that 10-day clock starts, however, depends on how you were served.
Personal Service
The summons and complaint were handed directly to you. Your 10 court days begin the day after that delivery.
Code of Civ. Proc. § 1167Substituted Service
The papers were left with another adult at your home or workplace and a copy was also mailed to you. Service is not considered complete until the 10th day after mailing — your 10-court-day response window then runs from that date.
Code of Civ. Proc. § 415.20Posting and Mailing
Used only after a landlord asks a judge for a court order allowing it, when personal and substituted service could not reasonably be achieved. The papers are posted at your unit and a copy mailed. Service is deemed complete on the 10th day after posting and mailing.
Code of Civ. Proc. § 415.45Choose Your Response
Once you know your deadline, California law gives you three ways to respond to an unlawful detainer complaint. Only one of them keeps your case alive on the merits — the other two challenge the case itself.
Motion to Quash Service of Summons
A Motion to Quash, filed under Code of Civil Procedure section 418.10, argues that the court has no authority over you because you were never properly served — the wrong person was served, the wrong address was used, or the rules for substituted or posted service were not followed. It does not address whether you actually owe rent or broke your lease; it addresses only whether the lawsuit was delivered to you the way the law requires. A hearing on a Motion to Quash is generally set between 3 and 7 days after filing. Code of Civ. Proc. § 1167.4
Demurrer
A Demurrer, governed by Code of Civil Procedure section 430.10 and the unlawful detainer procedure at Code of Civil Procedure section 1170, argues that the complaint itself is legally defective on its face — for example, the attached notice demands more rent than is actually owed, omits a required disclosure, or gives the wrong number of days to cure. A Demurrer is appropriate when the problem is with the paperwork the landlord filed, not with disputed facts. Under section 1170(b)(1), as amended by AB 2347, the hearing must be held no less than 5 and no more than 7 court days after filing.
Answer to the Unlawful Detainer Complaint
An Answer (Judicial Council Form UD-105) is your response on the merits. It denies the landlord's allegations, raises any affirmative defenses available to you — habitability, retaliation, discrimination, or defective notice among them — and lets you demand a jury trial. An Answer is appropriate whenever you intend to contest the eviction itself, rather than merely the paperwork or the manner of service. See our full guide to preparing and filing your Answer.
What Happens After the Hearing
If you win. A granted Motion to Quash means the landlord must properly re-serve you before the case can move forward — the clock resets. A sustained Demurrer either ends the case outright or gives the landlord a short window to file an amended complaint, which restarts your own response deadline against the corrected pleading.
If you lose. A denied Motion to Quash or an overruled Demurrer does not end your case — it simply means you must now file an Answer. You generally have 5 days from the court's ruling to do so.
Code of Civ. Proc. § 1167.3
Going to Trial: Bench and Jury
Once your Answer is on file, your case is "at issue." Either side may then file a request for trial setting, and the court must set trial to begin within 20 days of that request — unlawful detainer cases receive priority over most other civil matters on the court's calendar.
Code of Civ. Proc. § 1170.5
Bench trial. If neither side demands a jury, a judge alone hears the evidence and decides the case, usually within that same 20-day window.
Jury trial. Either party has the right to a jury trial in an unlawful detainer action whenever a factual dispute exists — for example, whether rent was actually paid, or whether a notice was properly served. Code of Civ. Proc. § 1171. Reserving one involves several concrete steps:
- Demand it in your Answer. Check the jury-trial box on Form UD-105 (Item 4) when you file.
- Deposit jury fees on time. Each party demanding a jury must deposit a $150 advance jury fee with the court, due at least 5 days before the date set for trial. Missing this deadline waives your right to a jury, though a judge retains discretion to excuse a late deposit in the interest of justice. Code of Civ. Proc. § 631
- Request a fee waiver if needed. If you cannot afford the jury fee, ask the court to waive it using the same fee-waiver process described in our Form FW-001 guidance.
- Appear for jury selection. On the trial date, a panel is drawn and questioned (voir dire), and both sides may excuse a limited number of jurors before the trial jury is sworn.
Fight the Case, or Vacate Before Trial
As trial approaches, a tenant generally has two paths available.
Fight at Trial
You may contest the case on its merits by raising the affirmative defenses preserved in your Answer — a breach of the warranty of habitability, retaliation for exercising a legal right, discrimination, or a defective notice or improper service, among others. See our guide to affirmative defenses available to tenants and to preparing for trial.
Vacate Before Trial
Alternatively, you may choose to move out and return possession of the property to the landlord before trial takes place. Once possession is no longer in dispute — and you confirm to the court that you have vacated — the case is no longer entitled to expedited unlawful detainer treatment. By statute, it converts into an ordinary civil action, typically limited to a claim for damages such as unpaid rent, rather than a summary eviction proceeding. If you vacate the property before the trial it is important that you attend the trial to confirm to the court that you vacated to ensure that the case is dismissed.
Civil Code § 1952.3(a) · Fish Constr. Co. v. Moselle Coach Works, Inc. (1983) 148 Cal.App.3d 654
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I stop my eviction in California?
You generally stop an eviction by filing a timely response to the unlawful detainer summons — an Answer, a Demurrer, or a Motion to Quash — within 10 court days of service under Code of Civil Procedure section 1167, and then raising any affirmative defenses available to you at trial.
How long do I have to respond if I was served by substituted service or posting and mailing?
Substituted service and posting-and-mailing are both deemed complete on the 10th day after mailing under Code of Civil Procedure sections 415.20 and 415.45. Your 10-court-day response window then runs from that completion date, rather than from the day the papers were left or posted.
What happens if I lose my Motion to Quash or Demurrer hearing?
If your Motion to Quash is denied or your Demurrer is overruled, you generally have 5 days from the court's ruling to file an Answer under Code of Civil Procedure section 1167.3.
Published July 27, 2026