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Obtaining a Judgment

After the tenant has been served with the summons and complaint for unlawful detainer, he has either five or fifteen days to respond, depending on the type of service.

The Default Case

In the majority of cases, the tenant will not respond to the complaint, and after the time period for the response has expired, our office applies to the court for a default judgment. In effect, you have won the case by forfeit. On the morning of the first day following expiration of the response period, we will contact the court to find out whether or not your tenant has filed an answer. If not, we will immediately prepare the necessary documents, which we will send to the court the same day. The court clerk makes an entry into the official court record that the tenant had failed to respond.

In a default case, no appearance by you or the property manager is required. Our office will handle all the paperwork for you. The paperwork we are filing at this point is to request that the court issue a judgment for possession only as authorized by law. It generally takes one to two days to complete. You will not obtain a money judgment at this time. Once you have been restored to possession of the premises, our office is then able to go back, with a supplemental declaration in support of judgment, to obtain a judgment of rent that was due to the date of departure by the tenant, including costs and, in certain cases, attorney's fees. But this supplemental process is completed after the tenant has already been moved out by the Sheriff.

The Contested Case

The tenant, after being served with the summons and complaint, may file a response with the court within the time period allowed by law. We cannot prevent the tenant from exercising his right to have his day in court. As tenants become more adept at maneuvering the system, we see an increasing percentage of contested cases, even though they have no legal defense. Filing a response does not mean the tenant wins the case. It merely means a further delay to the process.

Once our office learns of the answer, we immediately set the matter for court trial on the first available date. Unlawful detainers are entitled to preference of the calendar and are usually set within 14 to 20 days after the answer has been filed.

Our office will notify you or your property manager of the trial date and prepare you thoroughly for the hearing. It will be necessary for the owner or resident manager to be present at trial to testify.

As you might expect, the landlord usually prevails at trial. In some cases, it is a good idea to settle the case. Frequently, we will enter into a stipulated judgment, that is, a judgment by agreement between the parties, which is also approved by the judge. Typically, the stipulated judgment will provide for possession of the premises on a mutually-agreed date and an amount of back rent and costs owing.

Once the trial concludes, our office prepares the necessary paperwork, which includes a judgment after trial by court, cost memorandum, and writ of execution. The judgment is processed by the court and is usually entered within one to three days after the trial, although some courts take longer.

Once the judgment has been entered, either by default or after trial, the final step in the eviction arrives.
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