Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

You first need to contact an attorney regarding resolution of what is now a dispute between the co-owners of the property. Depending upon how you hold title, this might be easy, or may be difficult. If you hold title to the property in an entity (an LLC or corporation), then call a meeting, and vote to terminate the tenant's right to tenancy. That only requires a majority vote, so two of the three would be sufficient. If, however, you own the property as tenants in common, then you will need to consult with a real estate attorney to discuss how to move forward. It also depends on whether or not you have an operating agreement between the tenants in common. You are going to have to resolve the issues between the three of you to determine how you can remove the tenant. I know personally I would not take on an eviction case unless I have either all three of the owners concurring with the eviction, or if it is an entity which owns the property, I would require minutes from a meeting at which a majority of owners of the entity approved the eviction. You don't need the eviction sabotaged by your partner in the property.

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Mr. Gibbs is correct that if you own it as three individuals, you have a real problem. Technically all three of you simultaneously have the right to do anything with the property as if you owned it alone. So you and the third owner could each rent it to more people, change the locks and do anything else a solo owner could do. What that really means is you have to work this out with the owner who rented the property to family, or sue them first for partition and waste before you will be able to do an eviction. The bottom line is you have a significant mess on your hands and need legal counsel. Although I am not local to you, this kind of case is right up my alley, and I do handle a number of cases in Southern California, enough that I maintain a facility in Carlsbad. If you would like further assistance, please feel free to give me a call.