Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California
Failed to get tenant to sign a lease
This is my first rental income property and I failed to get a tenant to sign a lease and verbalized my rules/regs, amount of rent etc. He is a good tenant and asked if it would be ok if he could bring his daughter(teenager)and his ex-wife and he would give them the one BR and he would occupy a studio apt next to it. I wanted to help him out so I said yes. Now over a year later her son (his stepson)suffered a gunshot wound to his head (at his own residence)but after recovery and rehab she has brought him to live there and also her sister has started staying here along with a nephew. They have trashed the brand new carpet and there is only a path about 2 feet wide to walk through in the apt. My hesitation to know what to do is the lack of a written lease agreement and also the fact that the ex-wife is mentally unstable and very prone to anger. She stated to me I will have to evict her(boyfriend is supposedly an attorney). How can I evict her and(hers)if I dont have a
lease??? Not sure where to start with this. Is this to my benefit or is this to my detriment?
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Failed to get tenant to sign a lease
Not matter if not have lease. Simply serve your thirty day notice and begin the eviction. Joel Selik www.4thelaw.com
NOTE: no attorney client relationship is established hereby, you may not rely on this information, you must contact an attorney of your own choosing.
Re: Failed to get tenant to sign a lease
It is no impediment to eviction that you did not get a signed rental agreement. Simply give them a thirty day written notice to vacate--include the names of all known occupants and "any other persons in possession of the rental premises" on your notice. When they do not move out after thirty (30) days (and given the antagonistic attitude expressed by the female, it is likely they will not, you need to commence an action in unlawful detainer based upon the existence of an oral month-to-month agreement and a failure to vacate after written 30 day notice. If an Answer is filed, then you will have to go to court and there will be a "trial" of the matter, but if they do not file an Answer with the court within five business days, you will be able to get a default judgment. Since this is your first time and it promises to be litigious, I would recommend getting an attorney to handle everything from the "get go." Most attorneys who practice in this area will quote you a "flat fee" for an eviction, which is relatively inexpensive and well worth the money.
Re: Failed to get tenant to sign a lease
As Mark Twain said, "No man repenteth so much as he who hath committed a good deed." On balance, your odds of removing these obnoxious tenants will not be harmed by the absence of a written lease. Just give them notice. Now would be a good time to pay the price for a good rat dog lawyer, with lots of experience in real estate evictions - ask your friendly property managers for referrals or ask the local county bar association - so you have as little to do with these unfortunate lying and abusive creatures as possible.
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