Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: Rental Property Management

I once purchased an inexpensive piece of consumer software to write a will & trust for my family. I noticed a major bug that could have cost an unsuspecting consumer thousands of dollars in unnecessary probate costs. That was the last time I used any consumer legal software.

There are programs like Quicken Home & Business Lawyer that might be adequate for your purposes. However, there is as lot of wisdom and experience that an attorney can provide that software cannot. Laws change every year and there are plenty of lawyers who specialize in landlord/tenant law, so the cost of consulting with an attorney would be rather inexpensive.

If you use software in lieu of an attorney, you may find yourself making a mistake that was cost you in attorney's fees to unravel than what you saved by buying the software in the first place.

Re: Rental Property Management

You might check Web sites of self-help law book publishers like Nolo Press. Their large-format soft-cover books on tenants' rights and how to be a good landlord are pretty good, and maybe one could even say they make fewer mistakes than real-live lawyers, who can be forgetful or misinformed. If I recall, some of these publications now come with CDs containing basic forms in MS Word format, which you can copy and edit.

Look at, for example, "Every Landlord's Legal Guide," a Nolo book that comes with a CD of forms and has an edition specific to California law.

This is not intended as an endorsement, I know nothing about this product and don't own or use it, but it exists and seems to be what you're asking about, or close.