Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
What happens when you, as the landlord, file an eviction against your troublesome tenant, have the tenant served with the summons and complaint, and then instead of doing nothing or filing an answer, your tenant decides to file a demurrer! You think to yourself, “What is a demurrer and now what am I supposed to do?!”
Legally speaking, a demurrer is a procedure used in the initial stages of an eviction or other legal proceeding to obtain the courts ruling on the formal or legal sufficiency of the allegations in your complaint.
In practice, tenants often use a demurrer as a delay tactic to buy themselves extra “free” time in your rental property. A demurrer can delay an eviction case by a month or more. Often times, the demurrer is nothing more than a delay tactic. Tenants have been known to use a demurrer inappropriately and with little or no merits. Nevertheless, the demurrer must be responded to with knowledge of the law and the facts of the case. You should definitely hire an attorney. An attorney may be able to speed up the hearing on the demurrer and have your eviction case heard quickly. In an eviction, each day that the tenant remains in your house is lost income to you. If we can speed up a demurrer hearing to be heard in 1 week rather than 1 month, that equates to hundreds if not thousands of dollars of rent.
Need help with an eviction in Southern California? Contact the Law Office of David Piotrowski today. Start the process of removing your bad tenant.
