One of the most difficult challenges of owning real estate investment property is finding good tenants to live in your property. At a minimum, you hope to find people who will pay their rent on time and take care of the property. As hard as it is to find good tenants, it can be even harder to evict bad ones. Landlord-tenant disputes can be very complex starting with how you provide notice to the tenants of their need to vacate the premises.
A landlord can evict tenants for failure to pay rent or for failing to abide by the terms of the rental agreement. In California, you must provide tenants with written notice before they can be lawfully evicted. In general, the California Code provides for three different types of notice to terminate tenancy: a three-day notice, a thirty-day notice, and a sixty-day notice. A three-day notice is appropriate only in specific situations.
When tenants have not paid the rent, you would provide them with a three-day notice to pay rent or quit. If the tenants pay the rent within that time, the “defect” (e.g. their failure to pay) has been cured, and the tenants can remain in the property. If the tenants have violated the rental agreement, you would give them a three-day notice to perform covenant or quit. In this case, the tenants again have three days to correct their violation of the rental contract or leave the premises. If the tenants have broken the law, you will give them a three-day notice to quit. This type of notice does not allow the tenants to correct the situation – it lets them know that they have three days to leave.
If the tenants have not corrected the situation or left the premises after three days, you may be able to proceed with an unlawful detainer action. But, some communities have rent and eviction controls that you may have to obey. As mentioned above, landlord-tenant disputes can get very messy. The experienced legal team at The Wilson Law Firm, A Professional Corporation can advise you on how best to proceed.