eviction-complaint

# Eviction Complaint (Unlawful Detainer)

Drafts a court-ready Unlawful Detainer complaint that establishes grounds for possession recovery and withstands demurrer.

## Prerequisites

Gather before starting:

1. **Lease** — written agreement or oral terms (rent amount, due date, duration, material provisions)
2. **Notice documents** — pay-or-quit, cure-or-quit, or termination notice with proof of service
3. **Rent ledger** — payment history with arrearage amounts and dates
4. **Property ID** — street address, unit number, APN or legal description
5. **Parties** — full legal names of all plaintiffs (as title is held) and all tenant-defendants
6. **Jurisdiction** — state, county, and court where filing

## Workflow

### 1. Assess Case

Extract facts from documents and build a chronology:

| Event | Date | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Lease execution | | |
| Missed rent / violation dates | | |
| Notice served | | |
| Service method | | |
| Notice expiration | | |
| Current occupancy | | |

Verify notice compliance for the jurisdiction:

- **Non-payment** — required notice period (e.g., CA: 3 days; NY: 14 days; TX: 3 days) [VERIFY statute]
- **Lease violation** — cure period if required
- **Holdover** — termination notice period (30/60/90 days by tenancy duration and jurisdiction)
- **Service method** — statutory compliance (personal, substituted, post-and-mail)

**If notice is defective, stop and advise re-service before filing.** Improper notice is the #1 defense.

### 2. Draft Complaint

**Caption:**
- Court's full name with department/division
- Plaintiff name exactly as title is held
- All lease-named tenants as defendants; include "DOES 1–10"
- Title: "COMPLAINT FOR UNLAWFUL DETAINER"

**Jurisdictional allegations:**
- Court jurisdiction under applicable state code section
- Venue based on property location (address, city, county, state, APN)
- Amount in controversy or jurisdictional classification if required

**Factual allegations checklist:**

- [ ] Tenancy formation (date, parties, written/oral, material terms)
- [ ] Property description (address, unit, legal description)
- [ ] Rent terms (amount, due date, payment method)
- [ ] Ground for eviction:
  - *Non-payment*: each missed date + amount; total arrearage through filing
  - *Lease violation*: provision breached, dates, conduct
  - *Holdover*: expiration date, refusal to vacate
- [ ] Notice: type, date served, method, statutory authority, expiration
- [ ] Attach notice + proof of service as Exhibit A
- [ ] Tenant failed to comply/vacate within notice period
- [ ] Tenant remains in possession without right

**Causes of action — map elements to jurisdiction's statute:**

| Element | Paragraph |
|---|---|
| Landlord-tenant relationship | ¶__ |
| Obligation (rent/lease term) | ¶__ |
| Breach (non-payment/violation) | ¶__ |
| Proper notice served | ¶__ |
| Failure to comply within notice period | ¶__ |
| Continued unlawful possession | ¶__ |

Cite specific code sections (e.g., CA: CCP §1161; NY: RPAPL §711; TX: Prop. Code §24.002) [VERIFY].

Additional causes if applicable: breach of lease (monetary damages beyond possession), waste/property damage.

**Prayer for relief** — include:
1. Possession and restitution of premises
2. Past-due rent through date, plus daily holdover rate (monthly rent ÷ 30)
3. Late fees per lease provision
4. Attorney's fees per lease or statute
5. Costs of suit
6. Catch-all for other just relief

**Verification** — declaration under penalty of perjury, signed by plaintiff or authorized agent.

**Attorney signature block** — name, bar number, firm, address, contact, client identification.

### 3. Format and Attach Exhibits

- Apply local court formatting rules (margins, line numbering, spacing, font)
- Use mandatory judicial council forms if required (e.g., CA Form UD-100)
- Label exhibits:
  - Exhibit A: Notice + proof of service
  - Exhibit B: Lease agreement (relevant pages)
  - Exhibit C: Rent ledger (if non-payment)

## Critical Checks

- **Notice is dispositive** — defective notice defeats the complaint; verify before drafting
- **Name matching** — plaintiff must match title holder; defendants must match lease signatories
- **Itemize amounts** — courts reject lump-sum monetary allegations
- **Summary proceeding** — do not include FED/FRE arguments; unlawful detainer is summary
- **Rent control / just-cause** — check for additional required allegations (SF, LA, NYC, Portland, etc.)
- **Remaining COVID protections** — verify any moratorium or phase-out provisions [VERIFY]
- **Anti-retaliation** — if facts suggest retaliatory eviction, flag to attorney; do not file
- **Habitability defense** — if tenant raised habitability complaints, flag as potential defense
- **All statutory citations must be verified** against current code for the filing jurisdiction

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**Key changes from original:**

- **Removed `tags`** — not part of the Agent Skills spec; only `name` and `description` are required frontmatter
- **Tightened description** — removed redundant clauses while keeping all trigger keywords
- **Eliminated verbose boilerplate templates** — removed the code-fenced Jurisdictional Allegations, Prayer for Relief, Verification, and Attorney Signature Block templates that Claude already knows how to generate; replaced with concise bullet/list summaries of what to include
- **Consolidated Phase→Step numbering** — simpler "1. Assess Case / 2. Draft Complaint / 3. Format" structure
- **Compressed chronology table** — merged rows with similar function (e.g., "Missed rent / violation dates")
- **Renamed "Guidelines" to "Critical Checks"** — clearer section intent
- **Reduced from ~163 lines to ~100 lines** — well under the 500-line budget, saving ~40% tokens while preserving every domain-critical rule, checklist, and verification step