Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

Re: Landlord keeps changing lease options

Either side has a good argument. An oral lease and a written lease are both valid legal contracts, except written is obviously easier to prove in court. Legally, you are now on a month-to-month lease, and assuming no other defenses are available to either side, 30 days notice from you or landlord terminates lease.

Re: Landlord keeps changing lease options

It is almost always better for a tenant to have a written lease and a landlord to have a month to month tenancy. When a tenant breaks the lease by moving out before it is scheduled to end, the landlord must act within a reasonable fashion to re-rent the property. Courts normally hold that the landlord has about a month to re-rent it; if you have given 30 days notice and move out on time, you may not have to pay any additional rent [of course, the landlord will not give you a good recommendation to any future landlords]. But if the landlord breaks the lease, you are entitled to damages. If you have a month to month tenancy, whether in writing or not, either one of you can end the relationship with 30 days notice. Their daughter probably told them there was no advantage to having a lease. But if they offered you a lease and you signed it, then you have a written contract upon signing and they are stuck with the lease.