Legal Q & A
Q. I have a suspicion that one of our tenants falsified his application by giving me a different name and social security number than his own. If I can prove this, what are my rights? I have a six-month lease and he just moved in.
A. If you could prove falsification, and you would not have rented to him had you known the true set of facts, the lease would be deemed based upon fraud and set aside. You should bring a successful unlawful-detainer (eviction) lawsuit to regain possession of the premises.
Q. My evicted tenant left the property voluntarily three days before the sheriff was scheduled to do the lockout. Is it wise to keep the appointment or should I just cancel?
A. In some cases, it only appears that the tenant has vacated the premises voluntarily. A wrong guess could lead to problems. Many property managers always elect to meet the sheriff for the official lockout. Some property managers decide on a case-by-case basis whether or not to take possession prior to the sheriff’s arrival.
Q. Say an owner serves a three-day notice to pay or quit upon a tenant, and the tenant decides to move out. Can the owner deduct from the security deposit the actual amount owed by the tenant (claimed in the three-day notice) plus the next months’ rent that would have been due if the tenant had given the contractually required 30-day notice before leavening?
A. Yes. California law allows a landlord who has a month-to-month lease with a tenant who vacates without notice to charge rent up to 30 days after the premises were abandoned, unless the premises were relet within the 30-day time. In that event, the landlord may only charge rent up to the day it was it was relet. The unpaid rent may be deducted from the tenant’s security deposit.
Q. A former tenant is threatening to sue us over the security deposit we returned. He cashed the check yesterday. Does that mean that he “agrees” with the amount?
A. NO, he can still cash the check and claim you owe him more of the deposit.
Q. I have a tenant who never pays his rent until he receives a tree-day notice. We normally serve notices on the eighth of the month even though the rent is due on the first. He is on a one-year lease, and I don’t know what my legal rights are.
A. You can try serving him with a three-day notice to pay rent or quit earlier than the eighth of the month. If he fails to make payment, within the three-day period, you have right to refuse the rent and commence eviction proceedings.
Q. One of our tenants has a guest who has been verbally abusive to me whenever I ask him whom he is visiting. We have a large apartment community with many amenities and we need to be careful that complete strangers are not using our facilities. What can I do?
A.. A tenant is responsible for the conduct of his guests. Rude conduct and behavior for enforcing reasonable rules may lead to your decision not to renew the tenant’s lease when it expires. If it continues or escalates to a major disturbance, and eviction can be filed.
Q. I want to avoid paying the high filing fees for an eviction and file in small claims court. Do I lose any advantages by filing in small claims court rather than municipal court?
A. Small claims courts do not have the jurisdiction to hear unlawful-detainer actions (eviction). The filing fee must therefore be paid unless you could prove to the court that you were financially unable to afford the fee. However, you can recover court costs as part of your judgment for an unlawful-detainer.