On September 1, tenants get additional time to respond to notorious three-day notices

On September 1, tenants get additional time to respond to notorious three-day notices

By Lynda Carson — August 15, 2019

Tenants who have been threatened with the notorious three—day notice by a landlord or their agent that may result in an eviction process taking place against them know how frightening the situation may become. Especially if they end up getting tossed out onto the streets in an unhoused nightmare situation.

In California, beginning September 1, 2019, a new law known as AB 2343 takes effect regarding the three-day notice that tenants get served by landlords or their agents. This includes the notorious 3-Day Pay Rent or Quit notice that may lead to an eviction process.

Under the new law, court holidays and weekends will no longer count towards the three-day notice period and the five-day period for responding to an unlawful-detainer summons and complaint. As an example, under the new law AB 2343 which begins on September 1, 2019, the deadline to pay rent for a three-day notice served to a tenant on a Friday wouldn’t be due until Wednesday, two days later than the present Monday deadline.

According to an organization supporting landlords, "AB 2343 does not apply to 30-day and 60-day termination notices or to notices to quit based on nuisance, unauthorized assignment, subletting, or waste."

The new law AB 2343, is meant to prevent a landlord or their agent from posting a three-day notice right before a 3 day weekend, that may result in not giving the tenant any time to find legal representation. According to sources, an eviction lawsuit may only be filed after a tenant has not appropriately responded to a three-day notice.

According to AB 2343

AB 2343, Chiu. Real property: possession: unlawful detainer.

(1) Existing law establishes a procedure, known as an unlawful detainer action, that a landlord must follow in order to evict a tenant. Existing law provides that a tenant is subject to such an action if the tenant continues to possess the property without permission of the landlord in specified circumstances, including when the tenant has violated the lease by defaulting on rent or failing to perform a duty under the lease, but the landlord must first give the tenant a 3-day notice to cure the violation or vacate.

This bill would change the notice period to exclude judicial holidays, including Saturday and Sunday.

(2) Under existing law, a plaintiff that wishes to bring an action to obtain possession of real property must file a complaint and serve the defendant with a notice of summons, in which case the defendant has 5 days to respond.

This bill would clarify that the period in which a defendant may respond to a notice of summons does not include judicial holidays, including Saturday and Sunday.

(3) This bill would provide that these provisions would become operative on September 1, 2019.

This article is not meant to be legal advice and is only intended to report that in California a change in three-day notices takes effect on September 1, 2019. All tenants with questions should contact an attorney for advice.

Lynda Carson may be reached at tenantsrule [at] yahoo.com

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