§ 1148.10A.Notice of Writ - Filing of Original - Execution of Writ - Refusal to Surrender Possession - Assistance of Law Enforcement - Appeal

Before executing the writ, the plaintiff, the plaintiff's agent, or the officer must notify the defendant -- in person or by posting -- that they'll return in forty-eight hours to restore possession and levy for the judgment amount and accruing costs. The original writ gets filed the same way judgments are filed in other civil cases. To execute it, the plaintiff or agent personally serves a certified copy on the defendant or an authorized person; if that's not possible, posting a notice at the premises specifying a return date and time at least forty-eight hours out works instead.

Someone who wrongfully refuses to surrender possession once the writ is served commits a trespass, punishable by a fine of up to five hundred dollars, up to thirty days in the county jail, or both. The plaintiff or agent can call in the sheriff or local law enforcement to help execute the writ.

An appeal doesn't stop the clock automatically. The defendant has two days after judgment to post a supersedeas bond -- a trial judge can extend that to as much as seven days -- but posting the bond doesn't excuse the defendant from paying current rent as it comes due while the appeal is pending; that rent goes to the court clerk's office. If the parties dispute the amount, the judge sets how much is paid and on what schedule. The plaintiff can withdraw deposited rent during the appeal without giving up the right to argue for possession on appeal, but if the defendant stops paying current rent during the appeal, that's treated as abandoning the appeal.