Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

My out of state Brother, landlord is selling his duplex in Calif. I have lived in for 5 years. We had a verbal agreement that I pay for a Gardner on a monthly basis to maintain the yards of both units in lieu of rent & I have personally paid his property taxes that were in default. The property is in escrow & the buyer wants to move in at closing of escrow. The buyers realtor called and asked if I would come to his office to discuss the rental. when I arrived he handed me a blank envelope. I opened it and inside was note giving me a 35 day no fault notice to vacate . I ask him to give me something with his signature showing the date & time I was served. . At that point he became Very Defensive & Refused To Comply by saying Quote: I Did Not Serve You I only delivered an Envelope your brother ask me to give to you. The envelope was blank no postmark stamp or name on it. On the notice my last name is spelled incorrectly in large letters at the very top of the page . My last name is different than my stepbrothers.This is the first he has misspelled my name in 55 years & hundreds of letters . Question Would this be considered an improper service or notice in the eyes of the court. Please Reply ASAP & Thank You For Your Help


Asked on 9/10/14, 11:46 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Anthony Roach Law Office of Anthony A. Roach

You are putting in emotional facts about your family and a rude altercation and not legally significant facts.

It is not clear whether you are a month to month tenant, or a tenant at will who pays expenses while he lives in the property. A tenancy at will is terminated by giving a 30 day notice. If you were a paying tenant with a month to month tenancy and had resided in the property over a year, you would be entitled to a 60 day notice.

The fact that your name was misspelled does not invalidate the notice. I fail to see how you can complain of service when the notice was handed to you.

BUT AGAIN, YOU ARE NOT CLEAR ON WHETHER OR NOT YOU WERE A PAYING MONTH TO MONTH TENANT.

Read more
Answered on 9/10/14, 12:01 pm


Related Questions & Answers

More Landlord & Tenants questions and answers in California