UDA Disclosure Paragraph 21 - California Judicial Council Form UD 100

Why UDAs Exist

Since eviction cases often times don't consist of any court hearings (If tenant response isn't filed in 5 days, plaintiff can proceed with default paperwork) - many landlords and owners are resistant to hiring legal representation for the purpose of filling out a small amount of paperwork. Consequently, a high demand of defective complaints, pleadings and notices are being dismissed despite the existence of court self-help divisions. To combat this, legislators created a non-attorney accreditation that could provide [affordable] legal advice & services limited to the realm of eviction while not violating any tenant protections afforded by statue.   

Enter - The Unlawful Detainer Assistant.  

An administrative licensee that can legally file, prepare and expedite judgement requests on behalf of landlords and owners in California. And while eviction attorneys offer many of the same services, they do so at a much higher cost, making the use of UDAs an increasingly popular alternative.

   Landlord & Tenant Services 🏁

   Electronic Filing Included 🏁

Announcement:

        Unlawful Detainer Assistants licensed under

California Business & Professions Code

have been added to the updated CA judicial council forms

used in Unlawful Detainer Cases 

for assistance or advice in the prosecution or defense 

 of eviction. (BPC § 6400).

"Since unlawful detainer forms are purely statutory in nature, it is essential the party seeking remedy bring themselves clearly within the statue."

Evictions Proceedings

Whether you're a Landlord/Owner or Fiduciary, you're probably reading this in anticipation to an unlawful detainer proceeding. Unlawful Detainer's are Summary Proceedings, meaning the timeline to respond is shorter than other civil cases.

 By dictating a faster timeline for nearly all pre-trial litigation, California designed unlawful detainer proceedings to move quickly, promising a speedy solution for those who qualified, and dismissed those who didn’t. 

For instance, a defendant must respond to a complaint within 5 days after service, instead of the usual 30 days before a judgment can be entered. After the 5th day if the opposing side fails to respond they can lose by default from what is termed a default judgment. 

Many plaintiffs have the default judgement paperwork already prepared on the day before the deadline. They do this because a response can be still filed before the default is entered, even if it succeeds 5 days. 

Moreover, while unlawful detainers can contain a court hearing; when a party wins by default, they do so without having to see a judge or the other party, just so long as the paperwork is prepared properly.  

Additionally unlawful detainers are expressly exempt from limited jurisdiction “economic litigation” rules, curtailing an expansive discovery plan and limiting exotic law and motion procedures. 

Having attended our fair share of U.D hearings, we've noticed that regardless what type of notice is required, the clerks are not mandated to check whether they're defective. Therefore a good deal of attention should be given to the notice expiration. 

Item 9a of the unlawful detainer complaint (UD 100) is a little vague and states "Defendant was served the following notice on the same date and in the same manner."  Be careful not to enter the date it was served or posted on as 9b is not referring to that. Additionally ensure the language in the notice alleges the rent wasn't paid, as opposed to just stating an amount owed. 

Another issue is attempting to request back rent, knowing you're probably not going to see it any time soon. In such a case, it may be better to float the idea of having the tenant avoid receiving an eviction on their record in exchange for a reasonable move out date.

The information provided below pertains primarily to Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.   

If you're a Landlord the following needs to be stated:

(For Tenant Defenses see below)

 Eviction for Non-Payment 

  . You or your agent rented the property to the tenant with an oral or written agreement.

 .  The monthly rent was a certain amount.

  . The tenant failed to pay rent, so that she/he owed a certain amount.

  . The tenant was properly served with a three day notice to pay rent or quit.

  .  The notice demanded that the tenant pay the exact amount of rent due or leave within         three days.

 .  The tenant neither paid the rent amount demanded nor left within the three days (four if        on a holiday or weekend).

  . The tenant is still on the property.

Disclaimer:

Additional prerequisites may be necessary depending on the applicability of Assembly Bill 1482. (A.K.A The tenant protection act of 2019)

Tenant Defense(s)

Tenant defenses vary depending on the type of dwelling and length of tenancy. The most common types generally relate to code violations. It's important to note that when it comes to evidence of defects, oral testimony or text messages are rarely sufficient by themselves. If a tenant alleges certain code violations constituting a breach, the local housing code itself should be introduced. Before being introduced into evidence, copies of the code should certified as true copies by the city or county clerk.

Discovery with Unlawful Detainer Procedures

As mentioned above, the extended cutoff for completion of discovery for both parties is only 5 days before trial. Although discovery isn't used in roughly half of all U.D cases, it never hurts to become familiar with the basics. 

If either the landlord or tenant sends discovery to the other side, responses will be required by the answering party, and the time period for which to respond to discovery is short. Failure to respond to the requests for admissions can deem the requests as admitted.

Discovery is a way to gain additional information from the other side and to help prepare for trial and minimize the chances of an unexpected surprise at trial.

A landlord or tenant may use one or all types of discovery techniques, as they each have their individual purpose. For example, if the eviction case is based on the tenant failing to pay the rent, the landlord could demand through the use of discovery that he/she provide a copy of a cancelled check showing rent was paid for July 2021.

 Like wise, a tenant could use discovery to demand to see a certificate of occupancy to verify the validity of the current lease. 

Other Discovery Examples 

1.  A landlord may want to send discovery to the tenant to find loopholes in the defenses that the tenant raised in his or her answer. The landlord may try to establish that the tenant committed the allegation being asserted in the complaint. The landlord may use discovery to rebut the tenant’s warranty of habitability defense or to determine the names of all people living at the rental unit.

2. A tenant may send discovery to the landlord to try and discover bases for affirmative defenses. If the property is in a rent control area, the tenant can use discovery questions to try and show bad faith on the part of the landlord, since most rent control jurisdictions require the landlord to have a specific reason for the eviction that falls within a list of justifiable circumstances.

While discovery can be used in constructive ways, it is not without its downsides. There is normally a cost involved by both sides to draft and respond to interrogatories. A lot of the times, sending discovery will not delay a case, but there is a possibility that a trial may be delayed pending discovery (which is why different techniques may be employed at different time intervals depending on the party). 

Thus, while both landlords and tenants have the right to use discovery in California unlawful detainer actions, the decision on whether or not to proceed with discovery needs to be discussed on a case-by-case basis between the party.

Motions and Pleadings in Unlawful Detainer Proceedings 

When an action is purportedly brought in unlawful detainer, but the complaint does not allege the elements of a cause of action, such that of a faulty notice, a motion to quash is appropriate, or as with any motion to quash,  when the moving party is arguing that the court lacks jurisdiction because of failure to properly serve the summons and complaint. 

A Motion to strike is similar to a demurrer, but it relates only to specific parts of a pleading (answer or complaint etc). In a motion to strike a defendant might seek to strike all requests for punitive damages if there is a legal argument that the plaintiff is not entitled to that form of relief. The result of a successful motion to strike is in the form of a court order striking certain words or paragraphs from the pleading. 

To inquire about unlawful detainer filings, Call 951 525 1340