Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

This is quite a scenario! What did you do to "transfer the house into our name" - buy it from him or terminate his tenancy and become the tenants yourselves? In other words, is the house a rental? Sounds like it is, but if so, it was unnecessary for your friend to give up the lease.

Anyway, at this point, you have asked three questions. The answers are:

1. Can he do this (get back whatever's at the house)? Yes. Neither going to jail nor losing his lease affects his right to possession of his personal belongings.

2. Does he have a timeframe? Yes. You and he should work out a reasonable time for him to stop by and pick up his personal property. If the doesn't pick it up in a reasonable time, despite being given the opportunity to do so, you can dispose of it "in a commercially-reasonable manner" (according to statute). If you sell it, he gets the money. If you take it to the dump, he pays the dump fee.

3. Can you throw it out on the front lawn? Probably not; this method does not live up to the "minimal care" duty the law imposes upon you as the temporary custodian of someone else's property. The risk of weather damage or theft is too high, and there are environmental and other risks to returning (or disposing of) property in this manner.