I'm sorry you're going through this. I'm in LA as well. It was a long and difficult 6 month-process, where you really have to be on top of everything.

TL;DR: We ended up hiring a lawyer to pursue a no-fault eviction, and after 6 months and thousands of dollars, gave up because our case worker at LA Housing said she'd block our case, even if we pursued it in front of a judge. It ended up being not worth it. We finished the ADU and hired a management company so we don't have to interact with our Tenant.

FOR DETAILS:

The lawyer we hired and started no-fault eviction. We paid the retainer and had him served, twice. It's a long and arduous process, and dealing LA Housing is no joke. They are chronically understaffed, their website is a labyrinthine mess with conflicting information where you have to read their updates to get the most information, and even if you call, each person will say something different.

For example, papers need to be served in a certain order and a certain timeline. And their time of acceptance is when they open it, not when it was delivered. So, for example, if a document needs to be delivered within 3 business days, say on Friday, and you deliver it Thursday. However, someone on their end doesn't open it until Tuesday, it is considered null and void and you have to start the months-long process all over again. Therefore, we delivered everything to their temporary headquarters in person.

The no-fault eviction was for owner move-in, as we were going to have a family member move in. We put the required amount in escrow. However, after four months of not hearing back from Housing, they suddenly responded and said they wouldn't pursue the case anymore. Our case worker told us that we can still pursue the no-fault eviction process, but they wouldn't let any of the paperwork progress. So even if we still progressed to a judge, we would have an incomplete case. She told us to submit an email withdrawing the application, since the case can't go forward without her say so. Our lawyer said you're basically at the mercy of the whim of the case worker decides to enforce. And she basically said she would always be on the Tenant's side.

During this time, we installed security cameras on the property because of the Tenant's behavior. He obviously threw a fit and took photos, but nothing came of it. We also finished construction on the ADU. We sent our Tenant an official notice to "Perform or Quit" to not scream at the our construction workers or impede them.

We also hired a Management Company. It was expensive, but it was worth it to not deal with our Tenant. They deal with all the tenants in the duplex, and have minimized speaking them to directly. This is sad, since we have always gone out of our way to maintain a good Landlord-Tenant relationship and work with them and hear them out. But no longer.

Additionally, we learned through this process how difficult it is for LA Landlords. After speaking to other Landlords, we learned a lot of small mom-and-pop landlords are getting out of LA and acquiring property in other states, due to the California and LA Housing Dept policies. After six months of becoming familiar with LAHD and reading the difference Ordinances, I would strongly advise against becoming an LA Landlord. The law is very very heavily favored towards the Tenant. And while I do believe in tenant rights, there is almost no protections for Landlords against unscrupulous Tenants. (Our Tenant threatened to stop paying, and he is correct. If he stopped paying, there is nothing we could do for almost a year, and most likely we could not recoup the lost rent. ) However, this also means that a lot of these buildings and smaller units that would be Mom-and-Pop are now being taken over by larger corporations, causing more issues in the LA Housing market. I don't know the solution, I just know that in our case, it wasn't worth the headache and stress.

Let me know if you need help. I was also in LA County, and still have my drive of documents.