Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: Multiple People on Lease and Termination

A mailed notice is deemed served upon mailing, but because weekends and holidays both at the collection and delivery ends may delay delivery, mailing gives the recipient an extra five days from the date of mailing (which may not be the postmark date). It has nothing to do with how often the recipient picks up, or when she reads, her mail. It's 35 days from mailing if mailed within California. See Code of Civil Procedure sections 12 and 1013.

If the document is a month-to-month rental agreement and not a longer-term lease, one co-tenant can move out by giving proper notice. This does not terminate the tenancy of the remaining tenant, who remains a tenant under the rental agreement and thus responsible for the entire rent.

However, if the tenancy is pursuant to a long-term lease with unexpired time before it runs out, no one -- neither tenant nor the landlord -- can do anything that has any significant legal effect by giving a 30-day notice. The notice does not terminate the lease and its only legal effect is to put the landlord on notice that a breach of the lease is threatened.

So, the answer depends upon whether you're month-to-month or long term.