How Can I Delay Family Eviction in California?

It isd possible to delay being evicted by your family.

One of the trickiest kinds of eviction is a family eviction. It is not normally a formal rental arrangement. Rental arrangments in this case are considered to be month to month leases, with all the rights you would get with a formal month to month lease. This means that your family cannot throw you out without cause, and must go through a formal eviction procedure to legally remove you from the property.

Instructions

1. Talk with your family to see if you can reach some sort of arrangement that works for all parties involved. Many times a rental dispute can be fixed by simple communication.

2. Wait for the written notice. Your family cannot evict you without a court order, and the eviction process in California starts with a written notice. A notice ending a month to month lease, as verbal or nonexistent lease agreements are considered, requires either a 30- or a 60-day notice. The former is for month to month tenants for less than a year, while the latter is for tenants residing in the same place for over a year.

3. File an answer to the court summons after the written notice period is up, and you are served. You can prepare an affirmative defense against the eviction process, or simply to receive additional time.

4. File a Request for a Stay of Eviction. This delays the execution of the eviction, although the judge needs a good reason to grant it.

5. File for bankruptcy. Bankruptcy provides an automatic stay on all debts, and will stop the eviction proceedings until your family petitions in bankruptcy court. This could buy you a few weeks or even months.

Tips & Warnings

• Landlords are not allowed to evict a tenant without a court order, even if the landlord is also a family member. Self-help evictions are illegal, and a landlord cannot bar you from the property, remove your possessions, change the locks or turn off utilities without a court order.

References

• California Courts: How can the tenant stop or delay the eviction?
• AVOO: How to Evict a Family Member in California