Notify the COURTS? No you must follow the entire process outlined in CA Civil Code 1983.
Here's a summary:
The landlord must send a notice to the place the tenant is expected to receive it that (1) describes the property in sufficient detail for the tenant to identify it, (2) advises him that he has 15 days (18 days if the notice is mailed) to claim it, (3) appraises him of reasonable storage costs, and (4) tells him where to claim the property.
The notice must also inform him that unclaimed property of value will be sold at a public sale and property believed to be worth less than $ 300 will be kept, sold, or destroyed.
After deductions for storage, advertising, and the sale, landlords must turn over to the county any residual proceeds.
I hope you fully understand that you must go through a very formal process of inventorying, etc. the items. Then if it goes that far, advertising according to very specific rules and holding a public auction unless total items are under $300. Best to have an independent person do the evaluation.
After the public auction if it gets that far (this IS NOT a garage sale but a formal public auction) you CANNOT keep the money..only enough to cover the storage "costs" to that point..no back rent, etc. The rest must be turned in to your county!
