If you need a San Leandro process server, Valpro Attorney Services handles summonses and complaints, subpoenas, family law papers, small claims claims and eviction papers for people and businesses across the city. San Leandro had 91,008 residents at the 2020 Census. It sits on the bay shore between Oakland and Hayward, and it has two BART stations of its own.
We work from our Sacramento office, about 72.5 miles away, and there is no San Leandro branch. Every request comes in online, and every update comes by email.
Where a San Leandro case is filed and heard
San Leandro has no courthouse of its own. Its cases split between two Alameda County buildings, and which one you need depends on the kind of case.
| San Leandro matter | Where to file | Where it's heard |
|---|---|---|
| Civil lawsuit | Hayward Hall of Justice, 24405 Amador St, or René C. Davidson Courthouse, 1225 Fallon St, Oakland, or e-file | The department the court assigns |
| Unlawful detainer | Either civil location, or e-file | Dept. 511, Hayward |
| Small claims | Hayward, Oakland or online | In person at Hayward |
| Family law | Hayward only; DVPA protective order papers may also go to Davidson | Hayward |
| Probate, conservatorship, guardianship | Berkeley Courthouse clerk's office only | Berkeley, or Dept. 103 in Oakland |
Court facts from the Alameda County Superior Court's civil, small claims, family law and probate pages, read in October 2026.
Hayward is the nearer of the two civil counters, about 4.9 miles from central San Leandro as the crow flies. Oakland's Fallon Street building is about 8.6 miles away. For a San Leandro family law matter there is no choice to make: the court wants every family law document presented in Hayward.
The Alameda courthouse that doesn't take new cases
Some San Leandro filers see "Alameda" on the court's list of civil locations and head for the George E. McDonald Hall of Justice at 2233 Shore Line Drive, about 6.1 miles away. Its page tells a different story. It lists Departments 301 to 303, a Records Management Unit and a Settlement Unit, with no filing clerk for new civil, small claims or eviction cases. The court's records page says civil case files can be viewed there in person, and only on the premises.
That makes the building useful for one thing on a San Leandro case: pulling an older file. If you need copies of documents from a closed San Leandro case, our document retrieval service can send someone to the right records counter.
Filing on paper or online
Most attorneys file San Leandro civil cases electronically through an approved e-filing service provider. One detail on the court's e-filing page is easy to miss: civil e-filing goes down after midnight on the fourth Friday of every month for maintenance and comes back by noon on Saturday. In that week, file well before midnight on Friday and don't plan on a Saturday-morning submission.
For a paper filing, the Hayward civil clerk takes papers in person Monday through Thursday until 3:00 p.m., and on Friday until 2:00 p.m. A drop box covers the next hour or two, until 4:00 p.m. We can file at the counter, use the drop box or e-file for you, and send the conformed copies back. See Alameda County court filings for what to send.
San Leandro evictions
Every unlawful detainer in Alameda County, San Leandro's included, is assigned to Department 511 in Hayward. A tenant asking to delay a lockout can file an application for a stay of eviction at either civil location, and the court rules on it without a hearing.
For a San Leandro eviction, the server needs more than a street address:
- The exact unit. Apartment buildings near the BART stations and along the main boulevards can have several entrances. Give the building letter and unit number.
- Every adult occupant named on the notice and the summons.
- Access details: a gate code, a call box name, or which door leads to the unit.
- The filing, if you need it. The complaint can ride on the same Service Request.
Our proof of service guide explains what the server's proof must show. From January 1, 2027, AB 747 adds steps to substituted service. Read the AB 747 guide before you plan a 2027 eviction.
Papers to serve in San Leandro?
Small claims from San Leandro
The court's limits are $12,500 for a natural person and $6,250 for a business. Since October 1, 2025, a landlord can no longer use small claims for unpaid COVID-19 rental debt above $12,500. Papers can be filed in Hayward, in Oakland or online, but the hearing itself is in person in Hayward, in a morning or an afternoon session.
The person who sues can't serve the claim themselves. Our guide on who can serve papers in California explains the options. If you send us the claim, we serve it and can file the proof. Filing the proof of service is an additional fee.
Family law and estate papers
A San Leandro divorce, custody or support case is filed in Hayward, at the same Amador Street building as the evictions. The family law clerk keeps the same in-person hours as the civil clerk, and there is a family law drop box for the last hour of the day. Papers asking for a domestic violence protective order are the one exception: those may also be filed at the René C. Davidson Courthouse in Oakland.
Estates go the other direction. The court's probate page says probate documents may be filed only at the clerk's office in the Berkeley Courthouse, at 2120 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, and must be filed at least two court days before the hearing to be considered. For a San Leandro estate, that counter is about 13 miles north in a straight line, so leave time for the run.
When family law papers have to be served on the other parent or spouse, send them with the Service Request and tell us about any restraining order in place. That helps the server plan the approach, and the proof comes back to you when service is done.
One San Leandro ZIP Code area crosses into unincorporated county land
The Census matches three ZIP Code areas to San Leandro, and they don't behave the same way:
- 94577 is about 99.5% San Leandro by land area, with a sliver in Castro Valley.
- 94579 is almost all San Leandro, at about 99.9%.
- 94578 is the mixed one. Only about 46% of its land is in San Leandro city. About 37% is in Castro Valley and about 17% in Ashland, both unincorporated communities in Alameda County.
These shares come from the Census Bureau's 2020 ZCTA to place relationship file. ZIP Code areas are Census approximations of postal ZIP Codes, so treat them as a guide.
The county doesn't change, so neither does the court. What changes is how the address reads. A home in 94578 can carry a San Leandro mailing address and sit outside city limits. Give the server the address exactly as the papers show it, plus a cross street. If the papers name a different city than the lease, tell us both.
Commuters and the two BART stations
San Leandro has two BART stations. San Leandro station is at 1401 San Leandro Boulevard, near downtown. Bay Fair station is at 15242 Hesperian Boulevard in the 94578 area, next to Bayfair Center, which BART describes as one of the first shopping centers built in the East Bay.
A person who rides BART to work is often home only early in the morning or in the evening. If you know their schedule, say so in the Letter of Instruction. A workplace address, a car and plate, or a recent photo gives the server a second option on a different day.
Serving a San Leandro business
For a corporation or an LLC, the proper person to serve is usually its agent for service of process. Look up the company on the California Secretary of State's bizfile Online and send us the agent's name and address. Staff at a warehouse dock or a store counter usually can't accept for the company.
Many businesses name a commercial registered agent instead of a local manager. We have pages for two of the largest, CSC and CT Corporation, and our serving corporations page covers the rest.
Sending San Leandro papers
- Start a Service Request and upload up to 5 PDFs.
- Name each person or company exactly as the papers do.
- List every San Leandro address you have, with unit numbers.
- Choose Rush or Standard, and add a filing if you need one.
Questions go to 855-582-5776 or Service@ValproAttorneyServices.com. We make no guarantees for service. When the person no longer lives at the San Leandro address, our skip tracing service can look for a newer one.
Cities around San Leandro
Straight-line distances from central San Leandro:
- San Lorenzo (2.4 miles) and Castro Valley (5.5)
- Oakland (5.7) and Alameda (5.9)
- Hayward (6.2), home of the courthouse
The full list is on the Alameda County process server page.