Notice to Perform Covenant or Quit
If you have Just Cause, your landlord should first write asking you to fix the problem before they give you the 3-day notice. If you are served a 3-day notice that says you are breaking your lease, you must fix the issue or face a potential eviction lawsuit.
If you receive a notice to “perform covenant or quit” and it refers to something not in your lease, or it refers to something you are not doing (false claim), you can respond in writing stating that you are not violating your lease. For example, if your landlord says they are evicting you for having plants outside, and there is nothing about plants on any lease, a 3-day notice is inappropriate and you can respond and say that.
If you do not fix the problem within the three days your landlord can file an unlawful detainer. For example, if your lease state that “pets are not allowed”, you receive a written notice to cease about a dog, and then a 3 day notice to perform covenant or quit, and you don’t find another home for that dog, you may receive a legal eviction notice “unlawful detainer”.
Even if you do everything right, your landlord can still take you to court and you still must respond to the unlawful detainer. Nothing is stopping your landlord from filing a lawsuit against you as a form of harassment. Be prepared!
If it is proven that you have committed a crime on the premises, your landlord may not need to give you an opportunity to fix the situation. In this situation you should get in contact with a lawyer as soon as possible. However, police arrival at your house is not, in itself, a Just Cause for eviction.
If you think the eviction is retaliation for requesting repairs, it is illegal for landlords to retaliate for a tenant exercising their rights, like requesting repairs to live in a habitable unit. If you are covered under Oakland Just Cause (Am I covered under Oakland Just Cause?) then,
If you are not covered under Oakland Just Cause, then