Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

We have an active termite infestation & we'll be tenting our rental house. We rent the house to two separate bedrooms to two separate tenants, with access to the common areas of the house and yard.

We've known for years that the one tenant --because he told us--uses a La-Z-Boy-type recliner-type chair most of the time, which is in his bedroom with his TV, including his sleep time, because of his head/neck problems. This is NOT a specially designed chair for the disabled. It's a regular recliner. He also has a mattress in his room.

Obviously, he will NOT have access to a recliner during his stay at a local motel/hotel during the termite tenting process.

Do I, as the owner, have any legal responsibility to this disabled tenant, regarding his special needs for a recliner? We are going to be compensating him for lodging up to a specific amount. He may, of course, decide to stay with (estranged) family or his one friend, and if so, I'll prorate his rent appropriately.

The other roommate has been a personal friend of ours for over 20 years. We are considering extending an invitation to stay with us if he'd like or he can opt to stay with another friend (we're pro-rate his rent), or choose to stay at one of the local motels/hotels (we'd reimburse for lodging up to a specific amount).

Is a 3-week notice to the tenants about the date for termite tenting an appropriate and acceptable length of time?

Thanks!


Asked on 11/19/10, 10:25 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

If it is not medically prescribed, there is little chance your tenant has a right to his recliner or accommodations with a recliner. On the other hand, it might be cheap insurance against litigation to load it into a pickup and haul it to his hotel/motel. As long as the amount of notice is "reasonable." You're in good shape. Three weeks seems quite reasonable to me. Again, though, if you want to be extra safe, give the same amount of notice as you would to terminate the tenancy, 30 days if they've been there less than a year, 60 if more.

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Answered on 11/24/10, 11:18 pm


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