Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: House for Sale...landlord is getting ugly...how soon they forget

Having the other replies I am offering this simple approach. First the rental period is from the first of the month to the last of that month. Your landlady did not discount your rent by two days in February when there was only 28 days. Therefore, she has by default Conceded that the month is from the first day of the month to the last day of that month.

It is my understanding that the use of the 30 day month is for convenience and consistency in calculating the amount of rent and prorating rent for less than a month.

In my experience the court will take the approach set forth above.

Good luck!!

Re: House for Sale...landlord is getting ugly...how soon they forget

It was difficult to follow all your issues, but it does appear, at least, that if there is a contractual provision for a 60 day notice, she must give a 60 day notice. Additionally, she must wait until the notice period is up (assuming she did it correctly) to file any papers, and then it is time before she can evict.

Joel Selik

800-894-2889

www.seliklaw.com

Re: House for Sale...landlord is getting ugly...how soon they forget

I'm not sure I understand, except that if the lease is longer than the end of the month, and it calls for 60-day notice, then she has to provide such notice or the law will likely not be on her side.

Re: House for Sale...landlord is getting ugly...how soon they forget

1. She has to live by the terms of the contract, which means that a 60 day notice is required.

2. A court might interpret the 30 day notice to be a 60 day notice, and give the benefit of the doubt, meaning the landlord would not need to start over, but might be able to require that you move by the end of April.

3. It sounds like you are on a month to month. It does not matter if the month has 28 days (Feb) or 31 days. The notice must be given at least 30 days in advance (or in your case, apparently, 6o days). That terminates the tenancy at the end of the period, not at the end of 30 days.

Re: House for Sale...landlord is getting ugly...how soon they forget

Question #1 is whether paying a full month's rent allows staying for a full 31 days when you were given a 30-day notice. I think the landlady is right on this one, assuming, of course, that you were entitled to only 30 days' notice and received at least 30 days' notice. This is because rent for a final partial month is prorated on the basis of a 30-day month, thus paying a month's rent buys you 30 days, not 31. Don't ask me why this is so, it is however the custom and would probably be honored in court. Of course, small-claims judges tend sometimes to follow their whims and if the judge thought you deserved a break, he or she might give you the extra day. Nevertheless, the landlady's position is technically correct, I think.

However, the 60-day notice issue could be a winner for you. Hopefully, you have it in writing, and if not, you have some darn good evidence (witnesses) to back you up.

If your presence could botch a close of escrow, you have to be careful; you might be either in a position to drive a favorable bargain, or on the other hand you might be sued for damages resulting from failure of the sale to close. I think playing hardball is risky even though you might be able to play the 60-day-notice card to your advantage.

Re: House for Sale...landlord is getting ugly...how soon they forget

Regardless of your agreement after January 1, 2003, Civil Code �1946.1 requires landlords to give 60 days notice to vacate without stating a reason unless the tenant has lived there for less than a year. There is an exception when the landlord is selling the dwelling to a natural person who intends to live there for at least a year. Courts strictly interpret the notice requirements and there is no "substantial compliance" doctrine for residential evictions.

Rents are usually pro rated based on a 30 day month, regardless of how many days are actually in the month. If you stay over an extra day, as in your example, it is hard to see how the landlord could charge for that day. Of course, he may bring an unlawful detainer action which could affect your ability to rent from another landlord.