Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: 3 Day Evicition

If you have not been paying rent, yes. If you were served with a 3-day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit, simply pay the rent demanded before the expiration of the 3-day period, and the landlord's son cannot evict you. If you have been paying rent, that is a defense to an unlawful detainer action.

Re: 3 Day Evicition

Seems like there are two parts or two steps to the analysis.

The first issue is whether the son is the legal successor to the deceased landlady. He probably is, but you are entitled to inquire, I suppose; after all, she may have willed the house to some other relative, to a friend, or to a charity. Without knowing who is entitled to receive the rent, you might pay it to the wrong person. Incidentally, you also have a right to know who is now holding any security deposit you put up when you first moved in.

Having said that, not knowing to whom to pay the rent is not going to be an excuse, for long at least, for not paying it. You have a duty to pay the rent, and when there is a "to whom?" question, trying to find out the answer is as much your responsibility as the new owner's.

Assuming the eviction notice is for nonpayment of rent since July or August, you should assume that the person serving the notice is the person entitled to receive it. Accepting rent for a property where you are not the owner or the owner's designated manager or agent for that purpose is a crime.

Finally, please note that rental properties change hands all the time, usually by sale from one investor to another, but sometimes by inheritance, and these changes of ownership rarely have any effect whatsoever on the tenant's rights or obligations. You still have a lease, but it is with the landlady's heir, whomever that is.

Re: 3 Day Evicition

It sounds like mass confusion reading these replies. When someone dies, they either die leaving a will, or die without a will. When they die without a will, we call that dying intestate.

I am assuming that the property you rent was once owned by the landlord. In order for her son to pass title, and have the rights as a landlord, he must receive what is known as an administrator's or executor's deed from the administrator or executor.

In California, property is transferred through the probate courts. If she died with a will, the court appoints an executor or executrix. If she died without a will, the court will appoint an administror or adminstratrix. (The ending of these terms is based on the sex of the person.)

It is to the executor or administrator that you must pay rent, while probate is pending. If I were you, I would find out if a probate is pending, and if an administrator or executor has been appointed.

The son does not have any powers, just because he is her son. He needs to receive what are known as "letters" from the court.

If you have any questions along these lines, feel free to call my office.

Very truly yours,