Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

A guest is a person who shares a living unit with the owner or legal occupant without paying any rent. They have no legal rights to remain in the dwelling unit if the owner/occupant wants them to leave. If they do not, they are trespassing. A lodger is a person who occupies a living unit that the owner or legal occupant also occupies at the same time and pays for the right to do so. What rights they have depends on whether the owner has one or more lodgers. If more than one they have most of the same rights as tenants. Rent and eviction controls generally do not extend to lodgers, although rights to 30 or 60 day notices of termination of the occupancy and many other rights do apply. A tenant is someone who pays for occupancy of a dwelling unit that the owner does not concurrently occupy. They have the full set of tenants rights, including rent and eviction controls if applicable.