Not every attempt to remove a tenant is legal. When a landlord skips the required court process or relies on a false or improper reason, the eviction is wrongful, and the tenant has powerful options to fight back.
What Makes an Eviction Wrongful
A wrongful eviction is any removal, or attempted removal, that ignores California's required legal process or rests on a fraudulent, retaliatory, or legally insufficient ground. The most common forms are illegal self-help evictions such as lockouts and utility shutoffs, notices that are technically defective, retaliatory evictions following protected tenant activity, and fraudulent no-fault evictions where the stated reason is never carried out.
Self-Help Evictions Are Illegal
Civil Code section 789.3 flatly prohibits landlords from using lockouts, utility shutoffs, or removal of belongings to force a tenant out. If this happens, the tenant can seek an emergency court order to restore access and may sue for actual damages plus a penalty of 100 dollars per day, with a 250 dollar minimum, for each violation. Call the police to report the illegal lockout and document everything.
Retaliatory Eviction
Under Civil Code section 1942.5, a landlord is presumed to be retaliating if they serve an eviction notice, raise rent, or cut services within 180 days of a tenant reporting code violations, complaining about habitability, joining a tenant organization, or using the repair-and-deduct remedy. The landlord can try to rebut the presumption, but it gives the tenant a strong advantage in any eviction case.
Defenses in an Unlawful Detainer Case
Even after a case is filed, tenants can raise defenses including breach of the warranty of habitability, procedural defects in the notice such as incorrect amounts or missing language, the landlord's failure to comply with RSO or JCO registration and notice rules, and retaliation. A tenant who successfully defends an unlawful detainer may also be entitled to attorney's fees in certain situations.
Damages Available for Wrongful Eviction
A wrongfully evicted tenant may recover moving costs, the difference between old and new rent, emotional distress, actual damages, and, where the conduct is egregious, punitive damages. City of LA RSO violations may allow treble damages. For illegal lockouts under Civil Code section 789.3, the per-day penalty can grow significantly during a prolonged lockout.
Have a landlord-tenant matter? Baghikian Law offers free, confidential consultations across Southern California. Call (818) 804-8901 or send us a message.