How to Write a Notice of Encampment Removal

The 48-hour rule in Executive Order N-1-24 was written for state agencies, and the Governor's model ordinance is for cities. A private owner doesn't clear a camp alone, though. You go through Temecula Code Enforcement and the police, and they'll usually ask for a posted notice with at least that much time. Treat 48 hours as the floor and follow whatever the city tells you on top of it.

Somewhere prominent at the camp itself, not at the front office. Put a copy at each entrance to the area, one close to the tents, and one at eye level in a plastic sleeve so weather doesn't ruin it. Take a dated photo of every copy the day it goes up and again before cleanup starts.

English plus whatever languages people at the site speak. In the Temecula Valley that almost always means Spanish at a minimum. If an outreach worker has visited, ask them. A notice people can't read doesn't do its job and won't look good if anyone questions the cleanup later.

Under the state model, if work doesn't begin within two days of the date on the notice, you post a new one and wait another 48 hours. So book the crew before you post, not after. We'd rather hold a date for you than have you repost because a hauler couldn't show.

Agencies can move faster when there's an immediate threat to life, health, or safety, like an active fire risk in dry brush, and the state policy asks them to give as much notice as is reasonable in that situation. That decision belongs to the agency or law enforcement, not the property owner. If you think it's an emergency, call it in and let them decide.

It's a notarized request, on a form from the police agency, that lets officers act on trespassing on your property when you're not there. Penal Code 602(o) allows one letter to cover up to 12 months for property that's closed to the public and posted. It doesn't replace the notice, but it makes the week after the cleanup a lot easier to manage.

The owner, the property manager, or the agency that's handling it, with a phone number that gets answered. Don't sign it with the hauler's name. People will have questions about their belongings, and the person answering needs to know what's being stored and where.

No. We don't post notices or do enforcement, and we'd tell you to be wary of any hauler that offers to. We come in after the notice has run and the site is clear of people. What we will do is walk the site with you ahead of time and give you a written price, so the cleanup date on your notice is one we can actually hit.

Say that personal documents, identification, and medication found at the site will be bagged and stored with everything else being held, and say where to claim them. On our jobs those always go in the keep pile, even when the rest of the site is headed for the trailer.

The state model says the notice should include information on services that are immediately available, including shelter. At a minimum list 2-1-1 for Riverside County and any outreach team the city is sending. Call the numbers yourself before you print, because a dead line on a posted notice is worse than none.

Usually yes. The notice has to describe the location, and a camp that shifts from behind the building to the far side of the lot is a new location. Check with the city, but plan on reposting and restarting the clock rather than arguing about it later.

At least as long as the storage period on the notice, and longer if there's any chance of a dispute. Keep the notice, the dated photos, the 602 letter, any emails with the city, and the cleanup invoice together in one folder. We include disposal paperwork with our invoice for that reason.