Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

If you have rented property, you have exclusive use of it during the rental period, subject to any exclusions in the rental agreement and subject to the landlord's right to enter under the applicable Civil Code sections. Assuming your rental agreement does not say anything about the subject, that means if you have a lease for a set term the landlord may not keep dogs or make any other use of the property for the lease term. If you are month-to-month, however, the landlord may make a change to the terms of the tenancy with a properly served 30 day notice. Depending on the change and the particular circumstances, there can be legal issues with this procedure. People who live in rent control jurisdictions have greater protection from such changes. Of course, this discussion assumes you did not agree to allow the landlord to keep his dogs on the property.