Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

i rented out or tactually told an aquaintance that she could live in my house for $1400 a month as long as i kept my belongings in one of the rooms that could be accessed from the back yard with a private entrance through the back gate. the door locks from the inside of house so i wouldn't beable to disturb her or enter into the rest of the house unless she was there. she agreed and was only supposed to have her son living with her. she decided that it made her uncomfortable that i had my belongings there and asked me to remove them. in actuality she was sub leasing my room to two other girls. i found this out and told her she couldn't do that and she had them leave after a year. now she has her boyfriend there along with his child without my consent. she was told no pets and she has 2 little dogs there. she had skipped some months of rent and then took it upon herself to lower the rent to $1200. due to her actions i've had to refinance my house and almost lost it to a short sale. i had to move to LA to help my 90 year old mother and didn't want to sell my house or rent the whole thing out so i could return to it at a later time. i told her numerous times that i want her out and that i would be moving back in. she doesn't know that i recently went to the bank and they've granted me back my house due to other specifics. she told me she would be out by July 1st. there isn't anything boxed up and i had my nephew go by the house to make sure the inside was okay and to pick up my mail that was sent to me from the bank. she called the police on him and said she wasn't going to leave until the sheriff's came to make her leave.

my question is do i still need to serve her eviction papers or can i just change my locks and give her a time to remove her belongings? i still receive my mail at the house and my belongings are still in the house. she has had more than a 30 day notice that she had to leave. she is acting as if this is her house and she can do whatever and however even including what to pay me. please help me i don't know what to do. i need to move back to my house by the 1st so i don't lose my house to a forclosure.


Asked on 6/22/10, 7:39 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
George Shers Law Offices of Georges H. Shers

She is a tenant and must be given a three day and thirty day notice [since she had been there more than one year it needs to be a 60 day notice]. You should have kicked her out a long time ago. The only way you are going to get her out is to go there with a wad of bills and tell her if she is fully gone in three days she gets all the money, but each day she delays after that 10% [or whatever gets it down to zero by say 7/4] is removed.

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Answered on 6/23/10, 12:12 am


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