Need to vent/ask opnion/advice on new renter in my house (page 8)

OUTLAW

BlueSaphire..

PM Aguest/Shelby..

She`s a Pro at dealing with Tenants and Legal Issues..

She also Qualifies to take a Lawyers Bar Exam..

............................ ...OUTLAW

AGuest

May I weigh in? Thank you, dear Blue... and peace to you!

Couple/few things:

1. You CANNOT change the locks while she and/or her possessions are still. You CANNOT. The ONLY way you can do that is:

a. If you believe she has permanently left and abandoned the unit, in which case you have to do a Notice of Abandonment process (which takes at least 15-18 days AND may require you to store and/or sell such possession at auction); OR

b. You have received a Unlawful Detainer judgment from the Court, which includes an ORDER that you have to give to the SHERIFF, so that HE can lock her out

2. If you did not collect a deposit, you cannot "keep" a deposit. And you cannot apply what she gives you for RENT... TOWARD a deposit. So, as long as she pays the rent, you cannot evict her for "unpaid rent." You can take her to smalls claims court to get the deposit. Otherwise, you have to wait until she moves out and then add the deposit to the other charges (such as cleaning, unpaid rent, utilities, etc.). You can also now charge her a PET deposit (which you should have done when she moved in, if you didn't).

3. She is may not be a lodger but a tenant. Depends. A lodger is someone who rents a room and pretty much uses the same facilities and entry. If she has her own bathroom, entry, kitchen... or the unit is detached, she may not be a lodger. If she is not a lodger:

4. You CANNOT give her a 3-Day Notice to move... unless she has created a safety/hazard issue. You CAN give her a 3-Day Pay or Quit... after which, if she doesn't pay you MUST file an Unlawful Detainer action in court to have her evicted BY THE SHERIFF. Otherwise, you MUST give her a 30-Day Notice to Terminate.

5. You cannot require her to give you less than a 30-day notice, and then charge her for rent past that date by claiming that she didn't give you a full 30-days' notice. You cannot require her to GIVE you a 30-Day notice... or ANY notice. You can, however, give HER notice (30 days) and charge her rent up to the day she actually moves out (or to the 30 day, if she moves out before your notice expires).

If you are in California, check out the eviction self-help info here:

http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp/other/landtenqa-land.htm

You can also feel free to PM me and I will help if/where I can. In the meantime, I hope this helps and may JAH bless!

A slave of Christ,

SA

cognizant dissident

Shelby: Do the tenancy laws vary from state to state in the US? They do vary from province to province in Canada.

JeffT

Yes, landlord/tenant law varies a lot, which is one of the reasons I suggested seeing a lawyer, you need to know what the law is in your locality.

AGuest

What dear Jeff T (peace to you!) said, dear CD (and the greatest of love and peace to you!). And California has some of the most tenant-friendly laws in the country, so one must take good care when renting... and evicting. One doesn't necessarily need an attorney, though, as California courts are VERY "user-friendly" when it comes to unlawful detainer (eviction) and other small claims actions. Thankfully, the court system understands that not everyone has the moola to hire an attorney. Also, attorneys tend to slow the process as well as crank up the costs dramatically. For both parties. Someone's gotta pay for the law school loans, right?

Which is why I gave dear Blue the court link... and offered to assist, if she needed.

BTW, dear Blue... if you DO need an attorney, let me know where you are in Cali and I might be able to help you find a rather inexpensive one/eviction service.

Peace, all!

A slave of Christ,

SA

ohiocowboy

Get legal advice! It is the most important thing you can do. Trust me. Our $115,000 home ended up selling for $5,000 after the tenants finally decided to move out, that is how bad it was. It bankrupted us. Tenants have far more "Rights" than landlords, and if you do not get legal advice and document every detail, you are setting yourself up for lots of unpleasantness. Please practice due diligence! Even if things seem to go smoothly and she moves out, there is nothing to stop her from trying to sue you, and if you did not follow the law correctly she will win, even if the suit against you is not true. The law is on the side of tenants.

bluesapphire

Thanks to EVERYONE. This is a very trying thing I'm going through. Nothing happened as planned.

First of all, she showed up with the $300 she owes me. So now I have full rent and deposit. The lady from church was very nice and I know her. I made us all sit down in the patio and it stunk like pee but the renter cleaned up the dog poop -- of course -- before she got there.

The renter said she doesn't want to move out. I told her that I changed the pet policy to no pets because her dog is not trained. She signed and initialled the entire lease but I put a lot of time and was very SPECIFIC thank God about the pet policy.

She asked me to give the dog a chance because he could not be trained in "one day". I reminded her that she had stated it was already trained when she brought him. She said she would put a fence in the corner of the yard and keep the dog there while she is not home. I told her,

"The only way to train this dog is to get up with it every TWO hours and take it to the spot where you want it to go. You ARE NOT GOING TO DO THAT. And even then it may not work."

What I need to know is whether I can change the pet policy right now to no pets????? She said she is not giving me notice to move out. Someone must have advised her. So here she is, rent paid in full with a piece of shit dog that goes wherever it wants!!!

If she got rid of the dog and paid on time, she would actually not be a bad room renter. She's never here. Which is why I don't know why she needs the dog.

She doesn't have her own entrance and walks through our foyer, living room and up the stairs down the hallway to her room. So she is definitely not a "tenant" but rather a "lodger". So from what Shelby posted it looks like I have more rights than if she were a tenant.

To make matters worse, my husband is not on my side. He hates the poop and pee too but he is worried about the mortgage since last night a bunch of people got laid off and he could be laid off too.

So he's right in a way ... as long as she pays or we are doomed. We would not be able to rent the room to anyone else while she could technically live there rent free. That's why I want to get her out and put the room up for rent again, this time with a no pet policy and get someone else.

This is a no win situation.

PEC

The below quote is from page 4 of the booklet.
http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/landlordbook/catenant.pdf
C alifornia T enants A Guide to Residential Tenants’ And Landlords’ Rights And Responsibilities
Single lodger in a private residence
A lodger is a person who lives in a room in a house where the owner lives. The owner can enter all areas occupied by the lodger and has overall control of the house. Most lodgers have the same rights as tenants. however, in the case of a single lodger in a house where there are no other lodgers, the owner can evict the lodger without using formal eviction proceedings. the owner can give the lodger written notice that the lodger cannot continue to use the room. the amount of notice must be the same as the number of days between rent payments (for example, 30 days). (see "landlord’s notice to end a periodic tenancy," page 50.) When the owner has given the lodger proper notice and the time has expired, the lodger has no further right to remain in the owner’s house and may be removed as a trespasser.
Philip

bluesapphire

Thanks PEC. I read that also. But what I need to know right now is how to get rid of the dog? Do I evict the dog???? I mean how can I legally make her either get rid of the dog or move out? When I told her earlier to get rid of it she said she would have to find somewhere else then. I said fine. Put it in writing. Then she changed her mind and is saying she wants to try to train the dog. I know this means FAILURE. She's not here enough to train the dog.

She paid up what she owes so now I can't evict her on the basis of not paying rent. So I'm stuck right now. But I cannot take another day with this dog peeing and pooping on my patio. It will be ruined.

The rocks are clean and nice. They form a beautiful trail. My son loves to play there with the rocks and his tonka truck. Now they are contaminated. I want to end this before they become more contaminated. They were expensive!!!

The concrete is already stained and smelly. I just don't even want to see that dog here another single day!!! She put it in the fence ... I think ... but it's out of the fence right now. Did it get itself out or did she not even bother doing what she was supposed to do. I would be able to live with it if it was in a fenced area in the corner of my yard that I rarely visit. But not right out my slider!!!

Broken Promises

Maybe the dog, could... accidently... on purpose.... run away, escape from your yard?

Need to vent/ask opnion/advice on new renter in my house

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