SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Starting Jan. 1, 2025, a new California law will double the response time for tenants facing eviction, offering them more opportunity to seek legal advice and adequately prepare their cases. The law extends the response period from five business days to 10 business days.

Genea Nicole Wall, a tenant from City Heights, experienced the turmoil of eviction earlier this year after failing to pay her rent on time.

“You’re trying to pack up and trying to respond. You’re just all over the place. You’re emotionally all over the place,” Wall says.

Unlike most other court summons that allow for a 30-day response period, eviction notices in California have traditionally given tenants only five business days to act. Wall described her struggle to navigate the court system under these constraints.

“Going to court trying to get assistance… It was just a grueling task. Daunting trying to get stuff done,” she says.

The new state law is designed to provide tenants with more time to stabilize their situation and seek proper legal support.

“What do those extra five days mean for someone who was just served an eviction notice? It’s giving people more time to get your bearings, figure out what you’re going to do before it’s too late and you lose automatically and get fast-tracked to being homeless and kicked out of your home,” says Gilberto Vera, an attorney with the nonprofit Legal Aid Society.

According to Vera, 40% of tenants facing eviction in San Diego last year did not respond to their court summons, effectively forfeiting their cases.

“If they don’t respond and tell the court that the eviction was wrongful and invalid – they’ll lose automatically,” Vera says.

Vera hopes this law will help tenants better understand their rights and prevent wrongful evictions by providing the necessary time to form a defense.

“I would be able to think — you could plan to take the time off to do what you need to do to get the assistance,” Wall says.

Wall, now living in Brea after being evicted from her City Heights apartment, believes she could have won her court case had this law been in effect.