Kern County Superior Court Transition to eCourt System

The Kern County Superior Court will transition to the eCourt case management system, effective October 6, 2025. To facilitate a seamless transition, please note the following key deadlines and filing requirements:

• Electronic Filings: As of 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, August 24, 2025, electronic filings through File & Serve will no longer be accepted.

• Paper Filings: From Monday, August 25, 2025, through October 6, 2025, only paper filings will be accepted for all non-criminal matters. All submissions must include the appropriate filing fees.

For the full court notice, please refer to the attached document: Court Notice.

Attorney’s Certified Services is prepared to support you during this transition with your Kern County filings. Contact us at (888) 514-5067 or email orders@attorneyscertified.com for assistance.

Sincerely,
Chad Barger
President and CEO

Updated Requirements for Notices to Pay Rent or Quit Following Eshagian v. Cepeda

On June 26, 2025, the California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, issued a decision in Eshagian v. Cepeda, clarifying the statutory requirements for a three-day notice to pay rent or quit under California Code of Civil Procedure section 1161(2). The court held that the landlord’s notice was deficient, rendering it invalid for supporting an unlawful detainer judgment. This ruling establishes critical guidelines for landlords to ensure compliance with notice requirements.

Deficiencies Identified in the Notice

The court found the notice defective for the following reasons:

1. Insufficient Eviction Warning: Despite the title “3-Day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit,” the notice failed to explicitly state that non-payment of rent within the three-day period would result in the landlord seeking to recover the premises. The title alone did not provide clear and unequivocal notice of the potential for eviction.
2. Lack of Specific Dates: The notice omitted critical details regarding the three-day period, including:
   • The start and end dates of the period.
   • A clarification that weekends and judicial holidays are excluded from the three-day calculation.
   • The exact date of service, with the complaint only vaguely alleging service “on or about December 20, 2022,” despite the notice being signed on December 19, 2022. This ambiguity prevented the tenant from understanding the precise deadline for compliance.

Recommended Notice Requirements

To align with the Eshagian ruling, landlords must ensure that three-day notices to pay rent or quit include:

• A clear and explicit statement that failure to pay the owed rent or vacate the premises within the specified period will result in legal action to recover the property.
• The precise date of service to establish the start of the three-day period.
• A statement clarifying that the three-day period excludes Saturdays, Sundays, and judicial holidays.
• Optionally, the exact expiration date of the three-day period, though landlords should exercise caution to avoid miscalculating this date, as errors may invalidate the notice.

Sample Notice Language

The following is an example of compliant language for a three-day notice to pay rent or quit:

THREE-DAY NOTICE TO PAY RENT OR QUIT

You are hereby notified that you owe rent for the premises located at [property address] in the amount of $[amount], for the period(s) of [specify month(s) and year, itemizing rent due].

This notice was served on [exact date of service]. Within three (3) days after service, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and judicial holidays, you must pay the full amount owed to [landlord or landlord’s agent] or vacate and surrender possession of the premises.

Failure to pay the rent or vacate within the specified period will result in legal proceedings to declare a forfeiture of your lease or rental agreement, recover possession of the premises, and pursue a monetary judgment for the rent owed, plus damages for each day the premises remain occupied after the period covered by this notice.

Broader Implications for Unlawful Detainer Notices

While the Eshagian decision specifically addresses three-day notices to pay rent or quit, its principles may apply to other notices used in unlawful detainer actions, including:

• Three-day notices to perform covenant or quit.
• Three-day notices to quit.
• Thirty- or sixty-day notices of tenancy termination.

Landlords and property managers are advised to review and revise all notice templates to ensure compliance with these clarified standards, particularly regarding precise service dates and explicit statements of consequences for non-compliance.

Disclaimer

This information is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Attorney’s Certified Services is not responsible for the content of this document or for any actions taken based on its contents. For legal advice, consult a qualified attorney.

IMPORTANT NOTICE:

PAYMENT PROCESSOR CHANGE – JULY 31, 2023

In the continuous pursuit to streamline and automate ACS operations, we will be changing to a new Payment Processor to simplify the payment processing fee structure.

The transition will take place on Monday, July 31, 2023 at 8:00 a.m. PST

Please know that the security of your payment information has been our top priority through this change, and our payment processors are current with all data security industry standards. We are working with both our old and new payment processors to make this transition seamless and secure.

In light of this transition, please note the following changes that may impact you:

• Beginning Monday, July 31, 2023 at 8:00 a.m. PST, when you login to your ACS account, you may be prompted by our portal to re-enter your Credit Card or Bank information. If this happens, we kindly ask that you re-enter your payment information as this is the safest way to address this issue.
• The charges on your credit card or bank statement will show being from Attorney’s Certified Services but depending on your bank it may display slightly different.
• We will no longer accept debit cards as a form of payment and will only accept credit cards or ACH payments moving forward. If you are using a debit card as your payment form when the switch occurs, it may affect your account, therefore please update your payment information accordingly.

Click here for a step by step guide on how to make changes to your account and update your payment guarantee.

If you experience any issues or have any questions, please contact our accounting department at accounting@attorneyscertified.com or give us a call at (888) 514-5067, ext: 105.
We thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Access Permitted To Only Those Persons Required To
Appear In Person At Any Santa Clara County Superior Courthouse

Due to the dramatic rise of COVID-19 infection rates and hospitalizations in Santa Clara County, Presiding
Judge Deborah A. Ryan issued an order limiting courthouse entry to only those persons required to appear
in person, effective immediately.

Courthouse access is limited to:

Persons appearing in person for a court hearing. This will generally include and be limited to
parties, their attorneys, witnesses subpoenaed to testify, and jurors.

Persons appearing to submit a pleading in person for filing who may enter only to place the
pleading in the drop box and must leave afterward.

Persons seeking assistance with the Self-Help Center/Restraining Order Help Center for:

Pleadings related to the prevention of domestic violence, gun violence, civil harassment,
elder or dependent abuse, workplace violence, school violence, and juvenile dependency
restraining orders;
Pleadings requesting emergency child custody and visitation orders or child safety issues;
Pleadings requesting emergency guardianships; and
Pleadings related to evictions, restricted to emergencies.

No other persons are permitted entry without good cause, including access to the Clerk’s Offices and public
restrooms. The Court will continue to be processing e-filing documents. People who are not e-filing will be
allowed access to the courthouse to use the drop box as noted in the order. Access is provided to court
proceedings by phone. Courtroom Public Access Telephone Lines.

To view the court notice and other resources, please click here.

SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF CONTRA COSTA
Public Information Office
mediainfo@contracosta.courts.ca.gov
925-608-2607

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 13, 2020

URGENT RELEASE: COURT CLOSURE DUE TO CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19)

In response to the unique and continuing public safety challenge presented by the coronavirus (COVID-19) and the numerous public health orders suggesting or requiring that public gatherings be limited:

The Contra Costa County Superior Court will be closed at all locations for approximately two weeks beginning Monday, March 16, 2020. Court locations hope to re-open at 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday, April 1st, 2020. Please check the Court website – http://www.cc-courts.org – for updates.

While the courts will be closed for most court cases starting on March 16, jurors who have been ordered to appear in court for criminal trials on Monday, March 16, must report to the court as ordered. At that time, the judges in those cases will provide guidance as to any further proceedings.

The Court appreciates the careful balance that must be maintained between the timely administration of justice and the protection of public health and safety. At the Court’s request and as permitted under Government Code section 68115, the Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court has issued an emergency order providing that, at least until April 1, 2020, the court closure will have the effect of being a public holiday as far as statutory or other timelines are concerned.

• If you have a hearing scheduled during this period, it will be reset to a later date. Notice of the new hearing date will be mailed to you or your attorney.
• If you are scheduled for jury service during this period, your service will be rescheduled. Notice of the rescheduled date will be mailed to you.
• Any in custody arraignments will be handled in Martinez, but all courthouses are closed to the public. Juvenile in custody arraignments will be handled in Martinez though closed to the public. Counsel will be permitted at all arraignments.
• If you need to seek an emergency protective order and/or a temporary guardianship, please contact your local police agency who will seek an appropriate order on your behalf.
• If you need to contact the juvenile or criminal arraignment departments, please call 925-608-1199.

Importantly, this closure is not in response to a specific notice of exposure at any Court facility or to any Court staff. Instead, it is in an abundance of caution to help limit the spread of the virus and the potential for future exposure.

Contact: Matt J. Malone, Public Information Officer

As always, we will notify you of any new updates from the Court. To see the official notice, please click here.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact a member of our customer success team at orders@attorneyscertified.com or (888) 514-5067.

Thank You,
Chad Barger, President
ACS Management Team

** NOTICE – MANDATORY E-FILING – KERN COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT, FAMILY LAW DIVISION **

Dear valued client:
Please be advised that effective Monday, March 2, 2020,  Superior Court of California, County of Kern will require mandatory electronic filing (E‑File) by all represented parties in Family Law filings. Self‑represented litigants, while strongly encouraged to E-File, are not required to do so.

You can find more information about this at the Kern County Superior Courts website: https://www.kern.courts.ca.gov/

As always, if you have any additional information or concerns please contact your ACS Support Team.

Thank You,

Chad Barger
President / CEO
(888) 514-5067

Dear valued client:
Please be advised that effective 1/2/2020 Orange County Civil has implemented a new eFiling requirement (Local Rule 314A). To allow filers to meet this new requirement we’ve added a new Document Title field in the LegalConnect portal when uploading a document. Per the court’s requirement this field should give the full document title and include the ‘Related to ROA # __’ information when relating to a Law and Motion document.

Please review the Notice from Orange County Courts with more information.

As always, if you have any additional information or concerns please contact your ACS Support Team.

Thank You,

Chad Barger
President / CEO
(888) 514-5067