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Real estate attorney Leo B. Siegel discusses California laws for quicker evictions. He discusses the 3-day eviction notice in California, rules on eviction, and aspects of the eviction process in general.
3-day Eviction Notice California
Other statutes allow other quicker types of evictions. For example, if illegal activity is being conducted in the property – drug sales, sometimes prostitution – the owner needs to give only a 3-day notice of termination of tenancy.
3-day Notice to Quit (non-curable breach) There is no curing; it’s a breach. Once the illegal activity is found and there is evidence to be able to prove it, the tenancy is automatically terminated by the tenants’ conduct.
How to count a 3-day notice in California?
After the 3rd day is up, on the 4th day, the owner can file their California eviction notice form. 
Other types of notices besides the 30 and 60-day notice in other situations might be a 3-day notice to cure a breach of a covenant in a rental agreement and get out. This is also referred to as a 3-day notice to comply or quit California.
California eviction laws for family members. For example, if there were a rental agreement with a relative and they were violating a provision in the rental agreement, the owner could give the tenant a 3-day notice to cure that breach of a covenant. A covenant is a promise. They need to cure that covenant or get out. If the breach is cured, in other words, remedied, then the tenancy continues. If it is not cured, then an eviction action can be filed on the 4th day. The first day after the 3-day notice expires.
California Eviction Laws: No Lease
In a situation with a relative living in the property, generally, there is no rental agreement, so you would not be using a 3-day notice to cure a breach of covenant. You would simply be using a 30-day or 60-day notice, or if Section 8 were involved, a 90-day notice.
What if illegal activity is suspected, but there is no proof?
As an attorney, I would have to counsel the owner that there is a risk in proceeding on a 3-day notice that is non-curable under those circumstances, because if you end up having to go to trial because the tenant files an answer to the complaint, the burden is on the plaintiff, the owner filing the complaint, to prove the elements of their case. You have to have proof that there is illegal activity is being conducted at the property.
Sometimes that is difficult. If you have a witness who has observed it or a third non-party witness who has observed it, then it is certainly easier to do that. But without a witness, if it is simply a he-said-she-said situation, I would never advise an owner to proceed on that type of notice. Because he said, she said, is simply 50/50. That is not sufficient proof to prove a plaintiff’s case in an unlawful detainer action. There has to be what is called a preponderance of evidence showing, meaning that it is more likely than not.
To avoid a defective 3-day notice in California, we recommend hiring a real estate attorney well-versed in the eviction process in California.
Leo B. Siegel is a real estate attorney with 34 years of experience handling landlord/tenant issues, evictions, co-ownership disputes, contract disputes, fraud, title issues, easements, and boundary disputes. He may be contacted at (831) 768-9110 at the Stone Siegel Law Firm.
Do Eviction Laws Vary by State?
Most likely, eviction laws will vary by state. The information here pertains to the State of California.
For help with selling real property, contact:
Need Probate Help | Kathleen Daniels | Realtor
Phone: 408-972-1822
Kathleen Daniels specializes in probate and trust real estate sales. She has experienced many situations where a successor trustee, executor, or administrator of an estate needs to hire an attorney to evict a tenant, oftentimes it is a relative, before they can list the home for sale.
We hope this provides a general understanding of California laws for quicker evictions.