Served With an Unlawful Detainer? You Now Have 10 Court Days — Use Every One

California extended the eviction answer window: ten court days, not five calendar ones. It is still the fastest lawsuit in the system, and the deadline still decides most cases.

What California Law Says

Following AB 2347, tenants have ten court days to respond to an unlawful detainer summons. Miss it and default can enter, followed by judgment and a sheriff lockout. A filed response forces the landlord to prove the notice, the service, and the grounds at trial within weeks.

How to Protect Yourself, Step by Step

1. Count ten court days from service, excluding weekends and holidays, and write the date somewhere you cannot ignore.
2. Get a fee waiver form ready if money is tight — approval is routine for qualifying incomes.
3. Choose your response: answer on the Judicial Council form, or a motion attacking defective service or a defective complaint.
4. Plead your defenses in the answer: notice defects, habitability, retaliation, discrimination, payment.
5. File, serve, and calendar the trial-setting that follows — UDs move in weeks, not months.

Common Questions

The landlord served my roommate, not me. Am I on the clock?

Service rules are technical and substitute service has requirements — a prejudgment claim of right to possession may also protect unnamed occupants; act within the window regardless while evaluating the defect.

Can I still negotiate after filing an answer?

Absolutely — most UDs settle, and a filed answer with real defenses is what makes the landlord negotiate instead of just waiting for default.