Names of the Plaintiffs:

The plaintiff is the person who starts the Unlawful Detainer. In most cases the plaintiff is the landlord. The plaintiff has to be competent and over 18. They have to be able to state that the property is theirs. An agent, such as a property manager, cannot sue in his or her own name.

You can be a landlord even if you do not own the property. For example, if you sublet the property or part of the property, you are the subtenant’s landlord. You can start an Unlawful Detainer against the subtenant. Also, if the owner lets a management company give out leases in its own name, the management company is the landlord. The management company can start an Unlawful Detainer action. But, if the lease is in the owner’s name, the management company is not the landlord. The owner is the plaintiff.

If the plaintiff is a corporation, they must be represented by an attorney.

Names of the Defendants:

The person or people the plaintiff wants to evict is the defendant. The defendant must live on the property when you file. Try to name all of the adults who live at the property as defendants. It can be hard to enforce the judgment against anyone who is not named in the complaint as a defendant. You do not have to name children under 18 as defendants. You can also add unknown defendants by checking the box “DOES” and entering “DOES 1 to (insert a number such as 10 or 100),” etc.

Type of Case:

This has to do with how much damages you ask for in the final section of the complaint. If you ask for more than $25,000 in damages, the case is a “General Civil” Case. If you ask for less, it is a “Limited Civil” case. You have to state if you are asking for more or less than $10,000.

Interests and costs do not count as damages. For example, in a limited civil case, you can get:

• A judgment for up to $25,000 in damages, plus
  • Interest, plus
  • Costs, plus
  • Attorney’s fees
• When combined, this may total more than $25,000.

Most Unlawful Detainers about residences are Limited Civil actions. Usually they are not for more than $10,000. Refer to the amount that you put on your Eviction Notice.

Why the Plaintiff Can Sue:

The complaint has to identify who or what the plaintiff is.

For example, the plaintiff could be a:

• Competent person over 18,
• Public agency,
• Partnership, or a
• Corporation (must be represented by an attorney)

Defendant is Using the Property:

The complaint has to include the address of the property. Or it has to give its legal description. The complaint also has to state that the defendant is using the property right now.

Plaintiff’s Standing:

The complaint has to include how the plaintiff is connected with the property.

For example, if the plaintiff is a:

• Landlord
• Property manager
• Sub lessor
• Owner

The Relationship between the Plaintiff and Defendant:

The complaint has to state what relationship the plaintiff and defendant have. The relationship is the basis for the action. Most Unlawful Detainer actions are about a landlord-tenant relationship.

But there are other relationships that can be the basis for an Unlawful Detainer:

• Master-servant
• Employer-employee
• Principal-agent
• The relationship between the buyer at a foreclosure or execution sale and the old owner (or the old owner’s tenants)

The complaint also has to state how the relationship started. For example, in a landlord-tenant relationship, the complaint can state:

• There is a lease.
• If the lease is oral or in writing.
• Who agreed to the lease.
• The date they agreed to the lease.
• The terms of the lease. This may include how much rent the tenant pays, when rent is due, etc.
• Any changes to the lease. This may include the rent going up, or a fixed lease to a month-to-month lease.
• The date the lease started.

Facts That Support an Unlawful Detainer:

The complaint has to give facts that prove the defendant is staying on the property illegally. For a landlord-tenant case, the complaint has to explain how the lease ended.

If the landlord canceled the lease, the complaint has to:

• State what notice the defendant got. This can be a:
  • 3-Day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit,
  • 3-Day Notice to Perform Covenants or Quit,
  • 3-Day Notice to Quit, or
  • 30-Day or 60-day Notice to Quit
• Include a copy of the notice.
• State what the notice says is true.
• State what date the defendant got the notice and how it was served
• State the defendant did not do what the notice asked for by the deadline stated in the notice.

If there is rent control or eviction control, the complaint has to state that the plaintiff followed those laws. If the property is a mobile home or a mobile home park or government subsidized housing, then the complaint has to state that the plaintiff followed the special laws, called statutes, for those places.

Facts That Support Money Damages:

An Unlawful Detainer action is about who gets to stay on the property. But you can also ask for money.

In general, you can only ask for money for:

• General damages:
  • You can ask for the “fair rental value.” This means you can ask for the money you could have rented the property for when the defendant stayed there illegally.
• Damages for “malice”
• Back rent:
  • You can ask for back rent if you served the defendant with a 3-Day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit and the notice asked for the rent.

If you ask for general damages, you have to state what the daily fair rental value is. This means how much you could rent the property for on the 1st day the defendant stayed illegally. In landlord-tenant cases, this is the day the lease ended or was canceled. It should be close to 1/30 of one month’s rent.

When there is a judgment against the defendant, the court calculates the damages. They multiply the daily fair rental value by the number of days the defendant stayed illegally until the judgment.