Unlawful Detainer first-timer

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BarbOurYear

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Jurisdiction: LA County, CA
My husband and I are taking care of the paperwork (and appearance) for his 97 yr-old father who is the owner of a rental house. Tenants are multi-generational and lived in the rental for 20+ yrs (without anything in writing).

They stopped paying rent in March and asked for a little time because they were moving out of state. That never happened. They have been served (posted & mailed) w/60 Notice to Quit which we filed w/court. Then we filed and served (delivered & mailed) the Civil Summons - Unlawful Detainer. After five days we filed Request for Default. Two days later we received from court a Default Reject because the defendants filed an Answer within the appropriate timeframe.

We have mailed each defendant Request to Set Case for Trial - Unlawful Detainer and will file w/court today. Should we have rec'd copy of tenants' Answer & who has to prove what if/when we do go to court? Thank you.
 
You should have received the Answer. YOu should be able to obtain it from the court though.

If you end up in court, have your timeline straight. Know when the rent stopped, when papers were served/filed, and know what the rental agreement initially was even if not on paper. For you it will be a matter of showing that you have followed procedure and have done things within the appropriate time frames.
 
Dear Mightymoose, thank you SOooooo much for responding. I feel such a responsibility to get this right, for my father-in-law, but I can't find a place to turn for help. Your words have encouraged me. If there are any sites you can suggest, or any other words of wisdom, I'm all ears.

Thank you, again.
 
Here's some info for anyone who's interested... after serving all the papers, waiting all the time, we went to court and the case was dismissed because the Plaintiff wasn't present. It didn't matter that he's 97 and can hardly get around, or that we had his signed authorization to represent him. Bottom line: must be represented by an attorney or the actual plaintiff. Wish I'd known.
 
That seems like a reasonable ruling... do you have power of attorney? I am not sure if that is sufficient... but at least it is a legal recognition of your authority to act on his behalf.
A bum in the parking lot could have signed the note you had...
If you have power of attorney then you should be able to handle his affairs in court.
 
No, we don't have Power, and I do understand that anybody could have signed the authorization. It's now my understanding that Power wouldn't have even been sufficient. I think the judge was very fair in his dismissal without prejudice. We have an appt w/an atty after the first of the year. This is probably all for the best. Thanx for your comment.
 
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