Commercial Unlawful Detainer in California: Notice, Filing, and Trial

A commercial unlawful detainer in California is the expedited court process a landlord uses to retake possession of business property from a tenant in breach. It runs under Code of Civil Procedure section 1161 and following, and it moves through the system in weeks rather than the year-plus a standard contract suit would take. Commercial tenants have fewer statutory protections than residential ones, landlords get more flexibility with rent notices, and the defenses a business can raise are narrower.

Grounds That Support an Eviction

CCP § 1161 sets out when a commercial tenant becomes subject to an unlawful detainer.¹ The common triggers are:

Nonpayment of rent after a three-day notice to pay or quit.
Breach of a material lease covenant — failing to carry required insurance, operating an unauthorized business, subletting without permission — after a three-day notice to cure or quit.
Waste on the property or maintaining a nuisance, which terminates the lease outright on a three-day notice to quit with no chance to cure.
Using the premises for an illegal purpose, which also ends the lease immediately on a three-day notice to quit.
Holding over after a fixed-term lease has expired without the landlord’s consent. No misconduct needs to be proven; the expired term is enough.

Because commercial leases are heavily negotiated, the lease itself typically defines what counts as a material breach. The type of breach chosen dictates the type of notice required, so the two decisions need to be made together.

The Three-Day Notice

No unlawful detainer can go forward without a proper written notice served first. This is where most cases fail.

Notice To Pay Rent or Quit

For unpaid rent, the notice must state the amount due, the name and phone number of the person authorized to accept payment, and an address where payment can be made. If personal delivery is possible at that address, the notice must list the days and hours payment will be accepted. The landlord can instead identify a bank account for deposit, so long as the bank is within five miles of the property.¹

Commercial landlords get one meaningful edge here. Under CCP § 1161.1, the amount demanded can be labeled an estimate. If it turns out to be wrong, the notice still holds up as long as the figure was reasonably estimated, and the statute presumes an estimate is reasonable when it lands within 20 percent of what the court later finds was actually owed.² That matters when rent includes variable charges for common-area maintenance, property taxes, and insurance that shift month to month.

If the landlord accepts a partial payment after serving the notice, the case can still go forward for the remaining balance without a new notice — but only if the landlord gave the tenant actual notice that accepting the partial payment does not waive the right to proceed.²

Notice To Perform Covenant or Quit

For a non-rent breach, the notice must identify the specific violation and demand that the tenant either fix it or leave within three days. The description has to be clear enough for the tenant to know what needs to change.

Notice To Quit With No Cure

For waste, nuisance, or illegal use, the tenant gets no opportunity to fix the problem. The notice simply demands that the tenant vacate within three days. The three-day period excludes weekends and court holidays.

Serving the Notice

CCP § 1162(b) governs service on commercial tenants. The landlord can hand-deliver personally. If the tenant is not at the property, the notice can be left with a responsible person there and a copy mailed to the property address. If no one suitable is present after reasonable efforts, the notice can be posted in a visible spot on the premises and mailed to the tenant at the property address.³ Document exactly when, where, and how the notice was delivered. Sloppy service is one of the easiest ways for a tenant to get the whole case thrown out.

Filing the Complaint

Once the notice period runs out without the tenant paying, curing, or leaving, the landlord files in the superior court for the county where the property sits. The main document is the Complaint—Unlawful Detainer (Judicial Council Form UD-100), which identifies the parties, describes the property, states the grounds for eviction, and lists the damages claimed.⁴ The landlord also files a Summons (SUM-130) and a Civil Case Cover Sheet (CM-010).

Filing fees depend on the amount demanded:

Up to $12,500: $240
Over $12,500 up to $35,000: $385
Over $35,000: $435

If the court tosses the case for a defective notice or a flaw in the complaint, the filing fee is gone and the whole process starts over.⁵

Someone other than the landlord, typically a registered process server, then delivers the summons and complaint to the tenant. Personal delivery is the cleanest method.⁶ For a corporate or LLC tenant, service usually needs to go to the entity’s registered agent for service of process. A Proof of Service goes back to the court to confirm delivery.

The Tenant’s Response Window

A commercial tenant has 10 court days after being served to file a written response. Court days exclude weekends and judicial holidays, so the calendar span is roughly two weeks. Service by mail adds five more court days.⁷

If the tenant files nothing, the landlord can request a default judgment for possession without a trial. That is the fastest possible outcome.

Commercial tenants have narrower defenses than residential ones. California does not recognize the implied warranty of habitability, repair-and-deduct rights, or retaliatory eviction as defenses in commercial cases. What does work tends to be procedural:

Defective notice — missing required information, improperly served, or demanding the wrong amount.
Waiver — the landlord accepted rent or otherwise treated the tenancy as continuing after the alleged breach.
Improper service of the summons and complaint.
No breach in fact — the tenant actually performed the lease obligations at issue.

The tenant can also invoke the § 1161.1 reasonable-estimate defense: if the notice overstated the rent by more than 20 percent, the tenant can argue the estimate was unreasonable and the notice fails.²

Trial Timing and What a Landlord Can Recover

Once the tenant responds, either side can request a trial date, and the court must set trial no later than 20 days after the request.⁸ Busy courts sometimes push past that, but the statute gives unlawful detainer cases priority.

The trial is narrow in scope. The court decides who has the right to possess the property and what damages the landlord is owed. Broader disputes over the lease often get carved out for later.

A successful judgment awards the landlord possession plus money. The court assesses unpaid rent through the trial date and the fair rental value for each day the tenant held over after the notice period.⁹ If the landlord proves the tenant acted with malice, the court can add up to $600 in statutory damages.

Separately, Civil Code § 1951.2 gives commercial landlords a right to future rent losses when a tenant breaches. That covers the present value of rent the landlord would have earned for the balance of the term, minus what the tenant can prove the landlord could have recouped by re-leasing, plus other costs caused by the breach such as broker commissions, tenant improvement expenses, and restoration costs.¹⁰ Those broader claims are usually pursued in a separate civil action, not inside the expedited unlawful detainer.

If the lease has an attorney-fees clause, the prevailing party recovers legal costs. Most commercial leases do. It cuts both ways: a landlord who loses can end up paying the tenant’s bills.

Getting the Tenant Out With a Writ of Possession

Winning the judgment does not empty the building. The landlord applies for a Writ of Possession using Judicial Council Form EJ-130, which the clerk issues under CCP § 712.010.¹¹ The application must include a declaration of the daily rental value of the property as of the date the complaint was filed.

The writ goes to the county sheriff or marshal along with written instructions and a fee. Under Government Code § 26733.5, the statutory fee for serving the writ is $105, with an additional $75 if the sheriff has to physically remove occupants and place the landlord in possession.¹²

The sheriff serves a copy of the writ on anyone occupying the property, or posts it if no one is present, and separately serves the tenant. Occupants get five days to leave.¹³ That clock does not stretch for weekends or holidays. If the property is not cleared by then, the sheriff returns to remove the occupants and turn the premises over to the landlord.¹⁴

An appeal does not automatically pause any of this. Under CCP § 1176, the court can grant a stay of execution only if the tenant shows extreme hardship and the landlord will not be irreparably harmed, and any stay comes with a condition that the tenant pay the reasonable monthly rental value into the court each month.¹⁵

Property the Tenant Leaves Behind

Commercial evictions often leave equipment, inventory, furniture, and fixtures on the premises. The landlord cannot just discard them. CCP § 1174 requires the landlord to store the tenant’s remaining personal property in a safe location and provide written notice to anyone the landlord reasonably believes owns it.⁹

The tenant or other owner has until the date specified in the writ to claim the belongings and pay storage costs. If nobody claims by that deadline, the landlord can dispose of the items following the procedures in Civil Code § 1988. Items the landlord reasonably believes were lost or abandoned go through the same process as found property under the Civil Code. Getting this wrong exposes the landlord to liability for the value of the disposed property.

What Happens if the Tenant Files Bankruptcy

A tenant’s bankruptcy stops the eviction. Under 11 U.S.C. § 362, filing a petition triggers an automatic stay that halts most legal proceedings against the debtor, including a pending unlawful detainer and any attempt to take possession.¹⁶ Even a judgment already entered by the state court cannot be enforced while the stay is in effect.

The landlord can move in bankruptcy court for relief from the stay, arguing the debtor has no equity in the lease or that the lease is not necessary for the debtor’s reorganization. Those motions are routinely granted in commercial cases where the tenant is already in default.

Federal law also puts the tenant on a deadline. Under 11 U.S.C. § 365(d)(4), the debtor must decide whether to assume or reject a commercial real property lease within 120 days of the bankruptcy filing, or by the date the court confirms a reorganization plan, whichever comes first. The court can extend that deadline by 90 days for good cause; any further extension requires the landlord’s written consent.¹⁷ If the deadline passes without action, the lease is deemed rejected and the tenant must surrender the property.

During the bankruptcy, the tenant must keep paying rent and performing lease obligations that come due after the filing date. Post-petition rent the tenant fails to pay becomes an administrative expense claim, which has priority over most other debts in the case.

1
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 1161
2
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 1161.1
3
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 1162
4
California Courts | Self Help Guide. Complaint – Unlawful Detainer (UD-100)
5
California Courts | Self Help Guide. File the Eviction Forms (Summons and Complaint)
6
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 415.10-415.95
7
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 1167
8
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 1170.5
9
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 1174
10
California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 1951.2
11
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 712.010
12
California Legislative Information. California Government Code 26733.5
13
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 715.010
14
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 715.020
15
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 1176
16
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 362 – Automatic Stay
17
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 365 – Executory Contracts and Unexpired Leases