Unlawful Detainer · Start to Finish

The Eviction Roadmap

Every stage of a California eviction, in order — what you actually do at each step, what to have ready before you get there, and exactly where the process gets risky enough that going it alone stops being a good idea.

Before you start any of this

Self-help eviction is illegal, full stop. Changing locks, shutting off utilities, or removing belongings without a court order isn't a shortcut — it's a separate, serious legal exposure on top of whatever the underlying issue was.
The clock resets on any defective step. A wrong notice, bad service, or missed deadline anywhere in this chain can send you back to square one — which is why the prep checklists matter as much as the instructions.
RSO/AB 1482 units need a valid just cause before step one. If the unit is covered and the reason doesn't qualify, nothing downstream in this roadmap will save the case.
This is a sequence, not a guarantee. Real cases branch — a tenant might respond, might not, might raise a defense, might file bankruptcy mid-process. The roadmap shows the standard path; your actual case may detour.