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.