Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

You may have a cause of action against the landlord for trespass, but I don't believe a judge is going to set-aside the service of the summons and complaint on the grounds that the process server should not have had access to serve you. Judges aren't generally sympathetic to people trying to avoid service of process. You may want to speak with an attorney in your area who handles evictions for tenants - I find that judge's in different courts have very different attitudes. If you think you can prevail on those grounds, then file a motion to quash service, but at the hearing on that motion, you will often be served as you walk out the door.

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I disagree with Mr. Gibbs. A landlord is entitled to enter the premises or have his agents or employees enter the premises for any lawful purpose upon "reasonable notice." Reasonable notice is generally presumed to be 24 hours, but that is highly variable. It would be unreasonable to give only 24 hours if the landlord knows you will be in the middle of a weekend-long family celebration and all the landlord wants to do is check some peeling paint. On the other hand, if the water heater burst and water is running down the front steps, no notice is required at all. Considering you are obviously trying to evade service of process, your landlord has no obligation to give you notice, so you can continue to evade process servers, before permitting his agent onto the property.