Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: rental issue

She could be considered a tenant at will. If you try to lock her out without giving her a 30 day notice, the marshal will probably make you let her back in. The safest route to go would be to give her a 30 day notice, then you can evict her legally.

Re: rental issue

Do you own, or rent? Is she the only guest?

She is probably what is known in the law as a "private lodger". Simple answer is most likely way to handle this is by giving her a notice to vacate, or a 3 day notice.

I need more, and feel free to e-mail my office with additional information. I can tell you, that you do need to evict her, and that means eventually filing an unlawful detainer.

Re: rental issue

Also, find out why she will not move. If she says it is just that she needs a little more time to find a place, point out to her that she is not going to get somewhere to live if the prospective apartment mananger phones you as the last residence. Doies she qualify for any type of government assistance? Try to get her to agree on a fixed date that is no more than a month away and that you can move her things out on that date whether or not she has gone.

You probably so not have to go through the 3 day notice requirement since she is not a tenant, but it still, is time consuming to get her out, so it is better to reach some type of compromise. If you ae willing to take a chance, when she is out for several hours, change the locks. You need the lanldlord's permission; tell him/her jthat you have not done it before, but you lent a key to a friend who a place to sleep over for one day and she lost the key so for security purposes you want to replace the lock at your cost, giving him 2 or more copies of the new key.