Your First Papers to File

The Summons says that you have 5 calendar days from the date of service of it within which to file your "response." You may not have been served, but that doesn't mean the landlord's lawyer won't lie and say he did, in order to take your default. When you know that there is an eviction case pending against you, you need to take action right away, not to sit naively by, waiting for the landlord to do the right thing.

You may not have been named as a Defendant in the case, but they plan to evict you anyway. You need to file the Prejudgment Claim to make yourself a Defendant, and take action from there.

You are NOT expected to know which of these to file. That is what you will decide during your Initial Consultation. The choices are provided here to make them easy to find.

Depending on what has happened, your first papers to file will be a Motion to Quash, Demurrer, Answer, or Prejudgment Claim. If you're facing the Sheriff's Notice to Vacate, you need to file the papers in the Emergency! section first.