Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

This question raises the issue of whether the friend is/was a tenant, a lodger, or a guest. The following definition is copied from a California Department of Consumer Affairs pamphlet:

"A lodger is a person who lives in a room in a house where the owner lives. The owner can enter all areas occupied by the lodger and has overall control of the house. Most lodgers have the same rights as tenants. However, in the case of a single lodger in a house where there are no other lodgers, the owner can evict the lodger without using formal eviction proceedings. The owner can give the lodger written notice that the lodger cannot continue to use the room. The amount of notice must be the same as the number of days between rent payments (for example, 30 days). (see �landlord�s notice to end a periodic tenancy,� page 50.) When the owner has given the lodger proper notice and the time has expired, the lodger has no further right to remain in the owner�s house and may be removed as a trespasser."

Your guy may be a guest, if he never paid any rent and didn't intend to, in which case he becomes a trespasser immediately upon being given notice he is unwelcome.

Be careful about the word "guest;" as often used in legal books and articles it means someone who is staying in a hotel or motel room and paying a daily or weekly rate, rather than someone staying in a private home for free.