Legal Q&A: What about prohibiting visitors?

November 6, 2013

Question: I have a month-to-month rental agreement with a tenant and have given a 60-day notice to vacate. Since the service of the notice, the tenant has not paid the rent so I served him with a three-day pay rent or quit notice. Did that void the 60-day notice?

Answer: The three-day notice would not invalidate the 60-day notice unless you asked for rent that went beyond the 60-day period.

Ted Kimball
Kimball, Tirey & St. John LLP

Question: The present rental agreement is for two tenants. One has passed away. Do I need to write a new rental agreement with the remaining tenant?

Answer: You are not required to write up a new lease, the current tenant is still responsible for the full rent and other lease terms.

Question: We rent our detached in-laws quarters in the back yard of our property. Can we specify in the “house rules” that no visitors are allowed on the property? Also, can we specify “no smoking” in or around the unit?

Answer: You could prohibit smoking, since it is a health and fire hazard. Restricting visitors would most likely violate the tenant’s constitutional rights of freedom of association.

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.

Recent Legal Q&A posts:

Tagged: Columns Compliance Legal Q&A

Join CAA

Joining CAA will help you comply with laws and regulations that you need to understand for the protection of your rental housing business.

Learn More

QUICK LINKS

Rental Assistance Program
CTRA - COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act
AB 1482 - State Rent Caps
COVID-19 - General Information
Newsroom
Contribute to the Rental Housing Survival Fund

Newest Posts

Bill would mandate lease-guarantor disclosure in five languages April 19, 2021
L.A. to hike inspection fees, but program reform possible April 19, 2021
CAA derails bills that would harm rental housing providers April 15, 2021

Thank you. You guys conducted a great campaign with Measure C. We would have obviously lost without your management, coordination, and hard work. Sure glad you guys are here...
– Rich B. — San Rafael, CA

Kevin, I don't say this often, but from the second we began this relationship you have been nothing but a wealth of knowledge and a tremendous help. I cannot thank you enough for being so flexible with us. Thank you again!
– Jeff P. — Menlo Park, CA

I recently needed to take a few hours of classes to complete my Recertification as a CAA California Certified Residential Manager. I found it very convenient to do this through on demand classes at my office. The classes are well done and gave great education to further my property management skills. I even registered my maintenance team to listen to some of the classes. It benefitted us all. Thank you CAA!
– Beverly C. — Berkeley, CA

Andrea was very helpful and thorough. She provided different points and angles to my question for my consideration. In her questions she revealed that we need to revamp our internal paperwork and provided references from CAA's forms. I was very satisfied and felt confident in the decisions our company needs to make regarding the matter we sought with CAA. Thank you CAA. We appreciate your help.

We have been a CAA members since 1984. CAA has provided us the guidance needed to successfully manage our property. The rental forms keep us on solid legal ground which has minimized our management workload and helped us maintain quality housing for our clients. Your weekly e-news keeps us appraised of property management issues to be on the lookout for. Your work in the California State legislature in Sacramento has provided valuable representation for our industry. Keep up the excellent work!
– Forrest L. — Ridgecrest, CA

I recently needed to take a few hours of classes to complete my Recertification as a CAA California Certified Residential Manager. I found it very convenient to do this through on demand classes at my office. The classes are well done and gave great education to further my property management skills. I even registered my maintenance team to listen to some of the classes. It benefited us all.
– Beverly C. — Berkeley, CA

I just want to say Thank You Team at CAA. Being a Landlord in California is frightening enough -- but with you, not as scary! I just know someone on the team understands!
– Kristi B. — Lewiston, CA

Dear Ms. Moss, I want to personally thank you for your timely and very professional response. You are very thorough AND you provide examples and attachments how to find solutions and how to address the issues effectively. What you did would have taken me hours of research and still I wouldn't feel as confident in my ability because I am not up to date on how certain areas of a contract are practiced.

I was wary about joining CAA but after today I know I did the right thing and plan on continuing my membership for a long time.

Many thanks
– Ravi K. — Folsom, CA

We could not have accomplished the defeat of Measure C without CAA. We have been CAA members for over 30 years and membership fees have been returned to us “100 fold” with protection of our rental owner rights and the defeat of rent control in Santa Rosa. We at Pine Creek and Goodwin Property Management thank CAA for always supporting us.
– Patty G. — Santa Rosa, CA

I would describe CAA as my "Best Friend" in this venture called LANDLORDING. So happy you are there!
– Marsha W. — Fresno, CA