Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: tenant issue

Your right to enter a detached garage is substantially the same as your right to enter the tenant's main unit. You have to give advance notice of your intention to enter; 24 hours notice is presumed reasonable, but in some cases more or less notice is required. You can give notice and enter for a valid reason, including occasional inspection to determine the need for repairs, but you cannot enter a rented dwelling unit for any purpose that boils down to checking up on the tenant.

The fact that you just bought the building does not affect your rights or the tenant's - the respective rights are the same as existed under the previous landlord's ownership.

The right of a landlord to do disruptive repairs during a tenancy is limited. Taking away the tenant's right to use part of the leasehold may be a partial constructive eviction or some lesser breach of the covenant of quiet enjoyment. However, necessary and emergency repairs have much more latitude in favor of the landlord.

Since you seem to be a beginning landlord, I recommend you get one or two of those paperback self-help law books on tenants' rights and landlording as a business. They will be very rewarding for the small price in keeping you out of expensive and time-consuming hassles with tenants.

Re: tenant issue

Give them adequate written notice to vacate the garage if your repairs will prevent the tenant from quiet enjoyment if the tenant does not agree to cooperate with you. Contact me directly for assistace.