Effective January 1, 2027, New Summons Form Required in Residential Unlawful Detainer Actions

On January 1, 2027, residential California tenants must be served a new summons when their landlord seeks to evict them in unlawful detainer.  The new summons must contain all required warnings and summons information not only in English, but also in Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and Korean.  The new summons will be available online on January 1, 2027.

When served in unlawful detainer, residential California tenants may look to the bottom left corner of the Summons to see if their landlord filed the action with the appropriate new form.

The new form will, presumably, state, “[r]ev Janaury 1, 2027…,” as it is an update from the current version, displayed above.  Effective January 1, 2027, if your landlord serves you in an unlawful detainer with a summons that does not contain this date, you may file a motion to quash service of summons, a demurrer, or a motion to dismiss.

If your landlord fails to serve you with the updated Summons, then they have not served you with a summons at all.  This is important because the summons is the official legal notice requiring a person to appear in court or answer in a legal action.  Therefore, it is imperative that they actually serve you with the summons.

The updated form will be accessible here, likely on January 1, 2027.