California Penal Code 418: Forcible Entry and Detainer

California Penal Code 418 makes it a misdemeanor to use, encourage, or help another person use force or violence to enter or hold onto someone else’s land or property, except in the ways the law allows. A conviction carries up to six months in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.¹² The statute reaches anyone, but in practice it is the criminal charge that hits landlords who try to remove a tenant without going through the courts.

What the Statute Prohibits

The text is short and it is broad. Any person who uses, encourages, or assists another in using force or violence to enter someone else’s property, or to hold onto property that belongs to someone else, is guilty of a misdemeanor unless the law otherwise permits the conduct.¹ Two situations are covered: forcing your way in, and using force to stay once you are in. Both require some element of force or violence, which can include physical intimidation, not only physical contact.

The statute says “any person.” A neighbor who forces entry onto a disputed strip of land, a former co-owner who muscles their way back in after a sale, or anyone else who uses force to take or keep control of property they don’t own can be charged. The tenant context dominates because that is where the pattern repeats most often.

The Penalties on Conviction

Penal Code 418 does not set its own punishment, so the general misdemeanor rule applies: up to six months in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.² Sentencing turns on the facts. A landlord who physically confronted and intimidated an elderly tenant faces a different outcome than one who quietly rekeyed a door while the tenant was at work, even though both are criminal.

A conviction also leaves a criminal record. That record can surface in professional licensing decisions, background checks, and permitting. For a landlord who owns or manages several properties, the record often matters more than the fine.

Why Landlords Are the Usual Defendants

California allows only one way to remove a tenant: a court judgment, a writ of possession, and physical removal by a sheriff or marshal.³ No property owner, property manager, or police officer may force a tenant out. The rule holds even when the tenant is behind on rent, has already been served with an eviction notice, or is breaking the lease. Court process first, sheriff second, no exceptions.

The California Department of Justice has told law enforcement in writing that a self-help eviction is not simply a civil dispute. It is a crime under Penal Code 418, and officers should intervene to stop it.³ That guidance is the reason the statute now has real teeth in landlord-tenant situations: responding officers are expected to treat a lockout the same way they would treat any other offense in progress.

What Counts as Forbidden Self-Help

The conduct that most often triggers Penal Code 418 also violates Civil Code 789.3. The recurring patterns are:

Changing the locks, adding a padlock, or otherwise blocking the tenant’s access to the unit.
Shutting off water, electricity, gas, heat, or another utility to pressure the tenant to leave.
Removing outside doors or windows to make the unit unlivable.
Removing the tenant’s furniture or personal property without written consent.

Any of these, done to force a tenant out, exposes the landlord to civil liability under Civil Code 789.3.⁴ When force or threats accompany the act, Penal Code 418 is on the table as well.

Civil Liability Runs Alongside the Criminal Charge

A landlord charged under Penal Code 418 can also be sued by the tenant under Civil Code 789.3. The two tracks are independent. The criminal case belongs to the district attorney; the civil case belongs to the tenant and moves forward regardless of whether charges are filed.

Civil Code 789.3 lets a tenant recover actual damages, including temporary housing, moving costs, damaged or lost belongings, and emotional distress. The statute adds a penalty of up to $100 per day the violation continues, with a minimum of $250 per separate violation. Each distinct illegal act counts as its own cause of action, so a landlord who changes the locks and shuts off the water on the same day owes at least $500 in minimum penalties before any daily amount is calculated. The court must also award reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party.⁴ Tenants can also ask the court for an injunction to stop an ongoing violation, such as an order restoring utilities.

Defenses That Work, and One That Doesn’t

Defendants do have real defenses, though fewer than most landlords expect.

The strongest defense is voluntary departure. If the tenant had already moved out and abandoned the property, there was no forcible entry or forcible detainer to prosecute. Written proof carries this defense: a text from the tenant announcing the move, a signed move-out agreement, returned keys, an empty unit.

The second is lawful process. Penal Code 418 criminalizes force used “except in the cases and in the manner allowed by law.”¹ A landlord who obtained a judgment, got a writ of possession, and had the sheriff execute the eviction has done what the statute demands and cannot be convicted under it.

The defense that consistently fails is that the tenant deserved it. Serious lease violations, unpaid rent, even illegal activity on the property do not authorize a landlord to bypass the court process. The DOJ guidance is explicit: no reason justifies forcing a tenant out without a court order.³ An uninhabitable property may support an expedited court proceeding, but it does not create a right to remove a tenant without a judge.

An Additional Layer for Servicemembers

If the tenant is an active-duty servicemember or a dependent, federal law adds protection on top of Penal Code 418. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act bars any landlord from evicting a servicemember from a primary residence without a court order when the monthly rent falls below a statutory threshold, which was set at $2,400 in 2003 and is adjusted annually for housing-price inflation. Where military duty materially affects the ability to appear or to pay, the court must grant a stay of at least 90 days and may extend it. Knowingly evicting a protected servicemember in violation of the SCRA is a federal crime punishable by up to one year in prison, a fine, or both, on top of any state charge under Penal Code 418.⁵

1
California Legislative Information. California Code Penal Code 418 – Forcible Entry or Detainer
2
California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 19
3
California Department of Justice. Protecting Tenants Against Unlawful Lockouts and Other Self-Help Evictions
4
California Legislative Information. California Code Civil Code 789.3
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3951 – Evictions and Distress