Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California
My question:
What happens (legally) if a tenant stays one week after the move-out date on a termination of tenancy notice, however the full rent was paid even for that extra week.
My situation:
I've been renting a house from a property management company for over 3 years with a month to month lease. I always pay on time and there have never been any problems. 1 month ago I received a 60 day termination of tenancy because the owner wants to sell the house. I have to be out of the house by 9/23/10. I was able to find, and purchase, a place but will not be able to move in to the new house until 10/01/10 when escrow closes. I asked the property management company to ask the owner if I could stay in the rental one week longer (until 10/01) and pay full rent for September, not have them pro-rate it. However, the owner said no. I have nowhere to go for that week and wonder if I just pay the full rent, could I stay in the rental a week longer and not pay any price legally? Can they change the locks? Would they have to serve an eviction notice (which would take longer than a week to get processed and I'd be out by then anyway)?
Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!
2 Answers from Attorneys
Did you find out what's so critical about 9/23? Will it be sold on that date? Or just put on the market? Are the painters coming? The relative importance of having the place empty and clean at 7 a.m. on 9/24 may have a bearing on how the owners or their managers react to your holding over. Sometimes the results differ from what the law says they should be.
In strict adherence to the law, the landlord can't change the locks or use self-help measures to evict you, but if your holding over results in money damages, in addition to a week's rent the landlord might withhold something from your deposit. A holdover tenant is not a trespasser, even if the landlord doesn't accept rent, but is subject to immediate due process by unlawful detailer suit.
Holding over for a week is not unusual, and you should be aware that you may be affected by the same or similar circumstances with respect to your close of escrow and expectation of being able to move in to your new place on 10/1. Have a backup plan?
Just to clairify Mr. Whipple's answer, which I agree with, the landlord's only legal remedy if you hold over past the 60-days is to commence an eviction proceeding. BUT that would include a breach of contract claim too. So if the landlord had other losses because you hold over, you could be held legally responsble for that. Quite frankly, what most people do in your situation is just hire a mover who can hold your posessions for that week, or use one of those pack your own pod services for the move, since they are always willing to hold the pods for as long as you like and then deliver them to a new location, often at no more charge than if they pick them up and deliver them to the same location.
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