Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

I just rented out one of my properties to a family of 7, I was in the process of repainting and doing some cosmetic stuff when they approached me about renting the home. I explained to them that the home wasn�t ready to move into that I still had some touch up to do, they said they weren�t having any luck finding a home and would soon be homeless and they didn�t care if there were things that need touched up that I could do it and they would stay out of the way. I had to leave town for a family emergency a week after I left they sent me an email saying that they would not pay the rent because there was still something�s that needed repaired. I�m in my late 70�s and so is my wife so we sometimes hire others to do things for us I told the renters that I would send over a repair guy and did but they said he wasn�t qualified to do the repairs that they say are needed and refused to let him on the property which is 5 acres and a 2900 sq. ft. home with a barn that I us for storage and made it very clear to the renters that the barn was not part of the rental they now are demanding that I remove all the item�s out of the barn so they can have access to it. They have also said that nobody but myself or my wife will be allowed on the property and only after 24 hr. notice but because we use the barn for our personnel storage we sometimes need to send over our nephew who does work for us from time to time because we own 4 other properties and store supplies for those properties in the barn The contract is a 90 day lease then month to month after. Because of all the issues with these people I want them gone. I know I am required to honor the 90 day lease, I�m going to serve them a 30 day notice. The lease is up on sept 4 do I need to wait until then to serve the notice or can I serve them on Aug. 4 which would be 30 days before the 90 lease expires. Effectively ending their tenancy on the 90 day lease expiation. And to be clear there is nothing in the home that is a hazard or un-safe it�s just cosmetic things like caulking around windows paint touch up.


Asked on 7/28/14, 9:47 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

If they have not paid rent, you can serve them with a 3-day notice to pay rent or quit, and then evict them and recover the unpaid rent. It is only legal to withhold rent if a property is legally uninhabitable, which basically means serious health and safety code violations, lack of running water or functioning sewer systems, lack of heating, etc.

If you just want to wait to the end of the lease, though, you can serve them the 30 day notice on 8/4 and their tenancy will end at the end of the lease, unless your lease says something different about notice. Bear in mind, though, that you seem to have been conned by people who have no intention of paying rent or of leaving until forced out. So you probably will have to evict them at the end of the lease. Given that situation, I personally would just give the 3-day notice to pay rent or quit, and immediately follow up with eviction.

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Answered on 7/28/14, 10:23 am


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