Tenant protections increased for eviction notices

Amended Calif. Civil Code §1167 and §1170

Effective date: January 1, 2025

Bill text: AB 2347

Why this matters: Court timelines for managing unlawful detainer (UD) actions now give tenants more time to respond and clarify scheduling of hearings on a tenant response.

Tenant response time to UD actions extended

A landlord initiates a court case to evict the tenant by filing and serving a tenant with an unlawful detainer (UD) summons and complaint.

The tenant served with a UD complaint avoids a default judgment in favor of the landlord when the tenant responds to the complaint within a specific time period.

A tenant challenges a UD complaint when their landlord:

• gives an improper notice of a UD action;
• fails to maintain habitable conditions on the property;
• discriminates against the tenant based on a protected characteristic of the tenant; or
• retaliates against the tenant for exercising their legal rights to report housing code violations.

A tenant response time to a UD complaint is based on the type of service used for the summons and complaint:

• a tenant served in-person has at least ten court days to file a response.
  • previously the tenant had five court days to respond;
  • a court day excludes weekends and judicial holidays; and
  • the days are counted beginning with day one as the first court day after the tenant is served. [Calif. Code of Civil Procedure §1167(a)]

• a tenant receives an additional five court days to respond to the UD complaint for a total of fifteen court days, when served:
  • by mail; or
  • through the Secretary of State confidential address program. [CCP §1167(b)]

Tenants respond to a UD complaint by:

• filing a written response with the court on or before the deadline; or
• giving an oral response on the day of the deadline.

Timelines for hearings on tenant motions

When the tenant responds to the summons in the appropriate time period, the court schedules a hearing:

• the hearing on a tenant motion to challenge or remove any portion of a UD complaint is set at least five court days and less than seven court days following the day the tenant files their response; and
• the court for good cause may set the hearing on the tenant’s motion for a later date. [CCP §1170]

What you need to know

Brokers and their agents need to update documents and procedures to reference the new timelines and motion procedures:

• a tenant’s court days to respond after being served increased from five court days to 10 or 15 court days;
• the hearing on a tenant response is scheduled within five to seven court days of tenant response;
• exclude weekends and non-court days;
• communicate new time periods for responses and hearing dates to clients; and
• update projections.

Related form:
RPI Form 580 – Proof of Service  – For Service of Notice to Real Estate Tenants