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Question: My tenant fixes his motorcycle in the living room of his apartment. I have warned him that he did not have a right to use our apartment as an auto repair shop. He says as long as he leaves the apartment clean, he has the right to work on his motorcycle. What should I do? Answer: You should review your lease to see if he is breaching any particular condition of promise. If not, and you are on a month-to-month tenancy, you could threaten to serve him with a 30-day notice to quit, or to change the terms of… Read More

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Question: Is there any way to impose a rent increase on tenants with a lease or do you have to wait until the lease is expired?  Can you raise rents on specific units and not all units? Answer: You have to wait until the lease expires unless the lease term contained an automatic rent increase.  If there is an objective business reason, you can raise rent on some units and not others, as long as it does not violate fair housing laws.  Many owners increase the rent on the tenants’ anniversary dates. Question: I have a tenant who has been… Read More

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Question: We have a one-year lease with a tenant that will expire in four months. If we sell the house now, and the buyer wants to move in, would we be able to break the lease? Answer: The buyer “steps into the shoes” of the seller and the lease is binding upon the new owner. Question: I allowed a tenant to move in and pay the security deposit in several payments. They are not able to make the final payment. What can I do? Answer: You can serve a three-day notice to perform conditions or covenants or quit. If the… Read More

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Question: A new tenant signed a six-month lease. Now, he claims he feels unsafe because of an incident at the property and wants to terminate the lease. The tenant claims he has a 72-hour period to rescind the lease after it is executed. Is this true? Answer: There is no 72-hour right of rescission for residential leases. Question: Is there a law on the length of time a resident must reside in an apartment not to be charged for paint or carpet when they move out? What are the guidelines? Answer: No, the tenant can always be charged for painting… Read More

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One of the longest delays in processing evictions occurs when not all occupants are served personally (hand-to-hand) with the unlawful-detainer summons and complaint. More often than not, the occupants know they must be legally served for the court to award a judgment for possession of the subject property. If they are sophisticated, they know that they can delay the time for the eviction by two to three weeks if they successfully avoid the process server. If the unlawful detainer is not served in person, it can be served on another person who resides at the property or on the person… Read More

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Question: A couple recently applied for one of our vacant units. They have jobs but do not quite qualify for the unit (they need to make three times the amount of the rent). They said that his father would be willing to co-sign as a guarantor in order to qualify. How should I work this arrangement on the lease? Answer: Guarantor agreements are separate and distinct from the lease and may be rendered void if the lease is modified without the knowledge or consent of the co-signor or guarantor. Carefully drafted guarantee agreements can eliminate this risk. Question: One of… Read More

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Question: I am a manager of a 56-unit complex. One of the tenants informed me that his girlfriend moved in. I gave him an application and told him to have her fill it out and then return it to me. It has been 10 days, and I have not gotten it back. Answer: If the lease prohibits the assigning or subletting of the premises without your permission, you can serve a three-day notice to perform conditions and/or covenants or quit, detailing the violation. The notice should require that they either turn in the application, or she must vacate the property… Read More

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Question: I recently purchased a triplex, and the escrow will be closing in a couple of days. The tenants are currently on a month-to-month rental agreement. Do I have to wait until the end of the month, or can I serve a 30-day notice as soon as I take possession of the property? Answer: You can serve a 30-day notice at any time in a month-to-month tenancy. You do not need to wait until the end of the month. You are also entitled to rent for the 30-day time period. If all of the tenants in the unit have been… Read More

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Question: If I miss sending a security deposit disposition with 21 days as required by law, must I return the entire deposit rather than deduct amounts owed, such as outstanding rent? Answer: The law is silent on this point. As a result, some judges do and some judges do not allow the landlord to make a deduction from the deposit if not properly accounted for in accordance with California law. However, this does not mean that the damages to the unit, necessary cleaning and unpaid rent are not owed. In any event, landlords can pursue any monetary claims they have… Read More

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Question: The guest of one of my residents broke the window of the unit. Our lease states that residents are responsible for damages caused by them or their guests. The resident is refusing to pay and said she is not responsible as the damage was caused by her friend. The resident is adamant that I must first attempt to sue/collect against the friend (who I do not have any contact information for) before I can try to come after the resident directly. Is that correct? Answer: The resident is responsible for the conduct of her guests. There is no legal… Read More

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