Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

Landlord question: My husband and I own a condo. My 76 yo mother-in-law lives in it and pays us $350/mo via automatic payment. Found out she's a hoarder. We paid a hoarding company to clean it out 18 mo ago with her agreement. It's halfway bad again - can't walk to her bed and barely fit into her bathroom. On July 1, she was in the hospital for heart surgery, was in rehab, and is in hospital again for a second surgery to fix a leak from the first. She will go back to rehab then will need nursing help. We're willing to put her in a nice assisted living place but she wants to go back to the condo. We don't want her living there anymore and either the hospital case worker or we will call adult protective services to prevent her from living like that and help with her mental illness. We are offering her a nice assisted living home. The condo hasn't been stepped in since July 1. It's now August 15. Can we clean it out the condo, throw out dirty goodwill plates and trash, get rid of the spiders and bugs, and put her stuff in storage? Or will we have a legal problem with this ornery elder?


Asked on 8/15/17, 9:46 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Gerald Dorfman Dorfman Law Office

She is a tenant who pays rent, and is entitled to all the legal protections of any other tenant. If she is a month to month tenant, you can give her proper notice to end the tenancy, and must go through the court system if she refuses to leave. If she has a lease, you will have to give proper notice of any violation(s) and go through the court if necessary. If your jurisdiction has eviction controls, you will have to comply with those laws.

Read more
Answered on 8/15/17, 9:58 am


Related Questions & Answers

More Landlord & Tenants questions and answers in California