Estimated values: The U.S. Census suppresses field-level data for small places. Estimated from constituent census tracts, pop-weighted from real underlying ACS data.
Tenant beats landlord
48.5%
/ 100 outcomes
In court-decided eviction outcomes for Fort Dick, CA, tenants prevail in roughly 48.5% of contested cases. A higher number means landlords face stronger tenant defenses, longer calendars, and more required documentation, and landlord-friendliness drops as this rises.
Timeline
286d
filing → judgment
From the moment an unlawful-detainer notice is filed in Fort Dick, CA until a money judgment is entered, a contested eviction takes about 286 days on average. Longer timelines mean more lost rent and higher carry costs for landlords.
Cost range
$16.6–30.0k
legal + lost rent
A typical eviction in Fort Dick, CA costs landlords $16,597 to $29,990 all-in, covering court filing fees, process-server costs, attorney time, and lost rent during the calendar between filing and possession.
Average rent
$997
26% stretched on rent
Average gross rent in Fort Dick, CA is $997 per month per the U.S. Census American Community Survey (5-year 2023). 26% of renter households here spend more than 30% of pre-tax income on rent, the federal cost-burden threshold.
Renters
2.6%
of households
2.6% of occupied housing units in Fort Dick, CA are renter-occupied (vs owner-occupied). A higher renter share usually correlates with more eviction filings, more turnover, and a more active rental market.
Poverty
7.5%
6.5% unemp.
7.5% of Fort Dick, CA residents live below the federal poverty line, and unemployment runs at 6.5%. Both feed into the economic-stress sub-score in our Eviction Risk Score model because rent payment problems track poverty + joblessness more reliably than any other single signal.
Time machine
Scrub 50 years
197619861996200620162026
2026
● LIVE · today◀ REPLAY · historical
Nine-axis profile
9-axis profile · today
Shape of the risk surface
1 landlord · 10 tenant
Sub-scores · with sparkline
Where the score comes from
1 → 10 scale
Local political climate
GOP margin +16.4% (2024)
4.8
Regional political climate
County-weighted neighbor mix
4.8
State political climate
California legislature & governorship
6.8
Economic stress
7.5% poverty · 6.5% unemp.
5.9
Supply constraint
$997 average · 2.6% renters
1.9
Rent Control risk
26.2% of income on rent
5.0
Eviction process difficulty
286 days filing → judgment
6.2
Tenant organizing strength
2.6% renters
1.9
Housing court bias
County bench composition
4.6
Geographic context
Risk heat across Fort Dick and the region
Click any city to see its score
How Fort Dick compares
Risk score vs. peers, county, state, and the U.S.
Rank in Del Norte County
Elevated
#4of 10 cities
#4 of 10 cities in Del Norte County for landlord eviction risk.
Rank in California
Very Low
#1279of 1,594 cities
#1279 of 1,594 cities in California for landlord eviction risk.
vs. county · state · U.S.
Score story
Six-stop tour of the risk profile
7.4
/ 10 · HIGH
The verdict
A High-tier market.
Composite 7.4/10. High statutory friction with active tenant counsel, so assume defenses on every filing. The 50-year curve shows a sharp climb.
50-yr trend+4.9 over 50 yr
197620012026
Steepening since 2010 · COVID inflection visible
286d
Typical timeline
The money
What renting (and evicting) looks like.
Rent published at $997/mo. A contested eviction takes 286 days and costs $16,597–$29,990 per case.
50-yr trendCalendar drag rising since '15
197620012026
Court-clerk data lands in the next release.
2.6%
Renters
The renters
Who you'll be renting to.
Out of 1,365 residents, 2.6% rent. 26% are spending 30%+ income on rent, 7.5% below the poverty line.
50-yr trendRenter share rising
197620012026
ACS 1970-present · once the migration overlay is in.
4.8
Local + regional
The politics
Mid-range climate. Not a coastal market.
Local & regional political climate score 4.8 and 4.8 (GOP margin +16.4% (2024)). State climate at 6.8, a mid-range statehouse.
50-yr trendTracks county vote margin
197620012026
Built on 50-yr presidential margins back to 1976.
6.8
State politics
The process
Long calendar, heavy friction.
State political climate 6.8/10 sets the legislative ceiling for landlord remedies, and it shows up in the process. Eviction process difficulty reads 6.2, housing court bias 4.6, rent-control risk 5. The slow part is the calendar, not the motion practice.
50-yr trendProcess difficulty +1.2 since '00
197620012026
Court-clerk data lands in the next release.
5.9
Economic stress
The stress
Economic pressure is the background risk.
Economic stress: 5.9. Supply constraint: 1.9. The numbers behind those: 7.5% poverty, 6.5% unemployment, 26% of income on rent.
50-yr trendTwo visible dips · '08 + COVID
197620012026
Mirrors BLS unemployment series.
US eviction landscape · timeline × all-in cost
Fort Dick sits in the slow & expensive quadrant
Bubble size = population · color = risk score
Fort Dick · 286d · ~$23.3k all-in ($81/day) · score 7.4National average: 58d · $4.6k all-inHover any bubble for stats · click to openColor: 0–4 4–7 7–10
Landlording in Fort Dick, California, presents a high-friction environment where attorney involvement on every filing is the norm. The Eviction Risk Score is 7.4/10 (HIGH tier), drawn from the nine sub-axes shown above, covering rent-control exposure, eviction-process difficulty, housing-court bias, tenant-organizing strength, supply constraint, economic stress, and local, regional, and state political climate. This is not a quick-fix market: it's a High-friction landlord market where lease drafting, screening discipline, and well-documented notices materially change outcomes.
Fort Dick is a city of 1,365 residents where 2.6% of occupied units are renter-occupied, and the typical renter spends 26.2% of income on rent. At an average rent of $997/month, the typical renter household here spends more than the federal 30% threshold on housing, a leading indicator of payment volatility and a precondition for the kinds of tenant defenses that show up most often in housing court.
01Process
How Fort Dick eviction process actually works
Eviction process difficulty here reads 6.2/10, a number that combines statutory complexity (notice categories, just-cause rules, mandatory pre-filing disclosures) with operational realities (court calendar length and clerk responsiveness). The typical contested filing in Fort Dick closes 286 days after the initial notice. For non-payment of rent the first step is a properly-formatted, properly-served pay-or-quit notice; for material lease breaches it's a cure-or-quit; for tenancies under just-cause protection an at-fault grounds notice (or a no-fault notice with statutory relocation assistance) is required.
The slow part of Fort Dick's timeline is usually the calendar, not the motion practice. Housing court bias scores 4.6/10 here, meaning judges read borderline procedural defects in the tenant's favor more often than the national norm. The practical implication: every notice and every proof of service needs to be airtight before it gets filed.
02Cost
What it costs (and how long it takes)
An all-in eviction in Fort Dick runs $16,597 to $29,990 per case once you account for filing fees, attorney time, lost rent during pendency, sheriff lockout, and unit turnover. That range is wide because the upper bound assumes a tenant answer plus motion practice, common when housing court bias is high. The lower bound assumes a default judgment after proper service.
For landlords running the numbers on holding costs vs. cash-for-keys: if your projected timeline times your monthly rent already exceeds the high-end cost number, cash-for-keys at 1–2 months' rent is typically the economically rational choice. With 286 days of typical timeline and $997/month in lost rent, that crossover happens fast here.
03Operations
Security deposits, screening, and lease terms
Tenant organizing strength scores 1.9/10 in Fort Dick, and the city has limited rent control exposure (5/10). Operations practice that survives audit in this environment looks like:
Screening discipline. Document income (verified at 2.5 to 3x rent), credit (with a clear minimum), and prior-tenancy reference checks, but do not screen on protected categories or source-of-income where banned. Keep a written, consistent screening criteria document for every applicant.
Lease specificity. Use a state-specific lease that names every term clearly: rent due date, late fees within statutory caps, deposit handling, smoke and CO disclosure, lead paint disclosure (pre-1978 stock), and a clean attorney's-fees clause.
Security deposit handling. Itemize deductions within the statutory window. Photograph move-in/move-out condition. In California, deposit cap and refund window are statute, so exceed them at your own risk.
Mid-tenancy documentation. Keep date-stamped records of every rent receipt, every habitability request, every notice served. The day you need them in court is too late to start.
04Strategy
What an everyday landlord should actually do here
If you own one to four units in Fort Dick: hire a property manager who knows the local court. The pricing differential between self-managing and hiring out is small relative to the cost of one botched eviction in a HIGH tier market. If you own five or more: build relationships with a local landlord-side attorney before you need one, since retainer fees are negligible compared to emergency-rate billing when an eviction is already moving.
The avoidable mistakes here are all upstream of the filing: weak screening, an informal lease, sloppy rent receipts, and notice templates pulled off the internet that don't match California's statutory language. Fix those four, and most cases settle or default. Skip them, and a $29,990 all-in fight is the realistic worst case.
04bPractical traps
Local traps to avoid in Fort Dick
Trap · AB 1482
Del Norte County voted Republican by 15.6 points in 2020, a baseline that correlates with landlord-neutral statutory bias under AB 1482 + Costa-Hawkins.
05FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Q1
What's the absolute fastest I can evict someone in Fort Dick?
Even with a clear-cut case like non-payment, the "fastest" is relative in California. You'll serve a 3-day notice, then file an unlawful detainer. If the tenant doesn't respond and everything goes perfectly, you might get a default judgment in a few weeks. But that's rare. Realistically, expect months, not weeks, due to court backlogs and tenant responses.
Q2
Can I evict a tenant for any reason if they're month-to-month?
No. California has statewide just-cause eviction requirements for tenants who have lived in your unit for 12 months or more. You need a specific, legally recognized reason like non-payment, lease violations, or nuisance. For tenants under 12 months, you can generally terminate with a 30-day notice without cause, but always verify with an attorney.
Q3
What if my tenant refuses to leave after the sheriff serves the lockout notice?
Once the sheriff posts the lockout notice (typically 5 days after the court issues the Writ of Possession), if the tenant doesn't leave, the sheriff will physically remove them. You cannot do this yourself. It's the final, official step in the eviction process, enforced by law enforcement.
Q4
How much notice do I need to give if I want to raise the rent?
For month-to-month tenancies, you need to give 30 days' written notice for a rent increase of 10% or less. If the increase is more than 10%, you need to give 90 days' written notice. Remember, statewide rent caps also apply, so you can't raise rent by an unlimited amount.
Q5
Do I really need a lawyer for an eviction in Fort Dick?
While you can represent yourself, it's highly recommended to hire an attorney for an unlawful detainer action in California. The legal process is complex, and even minor errors can lead to significant delays or dismissal, costing you more in the long run. Given the 286-day timeline and high costs, professional help is often a wise investment.
Q6
Can I charge late fees for unpaid rent in Fort Dick?
Yes, you can charge reasonable late fees, but they must be specified in your lease agreement. California law generally considers late fees reasonable if they represent a fair estimate of the actual costs you incur due to the late payment (e.g., administrative costs, not a penalty). Typically, a flat fee or a small percentage of the rent is acceptable.
A 7.4/10 places Fort Dick in the 21st percentile of California cities on the Eviction Risk Score index. The score is the average of the nine sub-axes, all calibrated on a national 1 to 10 scale where 1 is most landlord-friendly and 10 is most tenant-protective. The 50-year reconstruction shows this score has risen sharply since 1976, a structural drift driven by court-calendar growth, rent-control adoption, and the rise of tenant-side legal aid. The trajectory matters more than the snapshot: the score is the climate, not the weather.
Cities with similar eviction risk to Fort Dick (7.4/10)
Same risk band nationally · click any city for its full breakdown.
