Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

I am not trying to defend this individual, however, you cannot evict him solely because he is a registered sex offender. Part of your screening before you moved him in should have included a check of the sex offender database - I'm not sure you can deny him housing based solely on that, but at least you would have known before he became your tenant. If you have a term lease, then you are probably stuck with him as a tenant until the lease term expires, at which time you can give him notice to terminate his tenancy. If he is a month-to-month tenant, then you can give him a sixty day notice to terminate his tenancy (thirty days if he has lived in the apartment less-than one year), and simply proceed to evict him on that basis. You do not have to give a reason if he has no term lease. That being said, now that you have asked him to leave because he is a sex offender, and he is disabled, you will probably face a defense of 'retaliatory eviction.' Even if you tried to evict him based on a theory of nuisance - the harassing and provoking other tenants - you are probably going to face some strong defense on his part. You should consult with a local landlord-tenant attorney to discuss the particular facts of your case, and to see how pro-tenant or pro-landlord the local courts are.

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