Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

New owners want to collect?

In June of 2004 ownership of the duplex that I rent changed hands. At the

time I was under a written month to month agreement with the owner. When

I went to pay the rent for July I was told by then owner that he know longer

was in controll of that property and that the new owners would contact us to

set up a new rental agreement. Since then we have not heard from the new

owner until today 2/28/05. We received no notification of their ownership,

no new lease agreement, they never checked on the property or the status of

its tenants, in fact I paid for the lawn maintenance, and any small repairs that

needed to be done. They are now demanding that we sign a new rental

agreement plus repay all of the back rent. My question to you is am I legally

required to repay this rent, knowing that there never was a written or verbal

agreement made with this new owner. What should I do?


Asked on 2/27/05, 4:18 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Gregory Broiles Legacy Planning Law Group

Re: New owners want to collect?

What to do depends in large part on what you want to happen next, and how much (or how little) patience you have for conflict.

If you don't mind moving out, you could move out now (or soon) and force the new landlords to sue you if they want back rent. They may decide it's not worth the trouble.

If you don't want to move out, you will need to reach some sort of agreement with the current owners of the property.

As a matter of common sense, it doesn't seem reasonable to imagine that you should be entitled to live in the property for 6 months without paying rent, or by paying for only lawn maintenance and small repairs. You may be able to get away with it - but that doens't mean you're going to be on good terms with the new owners.

I suspect that if the new owners did sue you for back rent, they would win an award - it might (or might not) be for exactly the monthly amount specified in your old month-to-month agreement. Whether or not you want to gamble on their willingness to sue, and a judge's idea about the fair rental value of the property, is up to you.

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Answered on 2/27/05, 7:33 pm


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