California Apartment Association

Question: One of our tenants is moving out, but the roommate wants to stay and invite a friend of hers to take the outgoing tenants’ place. How do we indicate this on the lease?

Ted Kimball
Kimball, Tirey & St. John LLP

Answer: One way is to draw up a new lease, assuming the new person meets your rental standards, with new signatures unless you want to hold the vacating tenant responsible for the remainder of their lease. In that event, simply add the new tenant to the lease and have them sign.

Question: Our tenants deposit their rent directly into our bank account. This has worked well because we know exactly when the rent has been paid. Now we need to evict for non-payment of rent. Can they still deposit the rent and if so, have I hurt my case?

Answer: Acceptance of rent after an unlawful detainer action (tenant eviction) has been filed is a waiver of the right to evict in most cases. To avoid this possible defense, write your tenant a letter documenting that you are not going to accept any more rent at this time. Periodically check your deposits and if rent was paid, send it back as soon as possible.

Question: I am a first time landlord and I rented my condo with a two-year lease.  Now I need to sell and have been told that my tenant is the one with all the rights.  What are my rights?

Answer: You have the right to sell the property and the buyer would “step into your shoes” as landlord and must honor the lease. The tenant must also allow access to the property to prospective purchasers, agents, etc.

Kimball, Tirey & St. John LLP is a full service real estate law firm representing residential and commercial property owners and managers. This article is for general information purposes only. Laws may have changed since this article was published. Before acting, be sure to receive legal advice from our office. If you have questions, please contact your local KTS office. For contact information, please visit our website: www.kts-law.com. For past Legal Alerts, Questions & Answers, and Legal Articles, please consult the resource library section of our website.

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