Culver City Tenant Has People Living in Kitchen (Lewiston: real estate, leases)

[minkman111]

I own a triplex of 1 bedroom units in Culver City, CA. My tenant, a single person renting a 1 bedroom unit, has her daughter living in the kitchen. She puts a bed in the kitchen every night for her to sleep on. I would imagine this has to be against some tenant code to have other people living in non-livable places in the house without asking permission and deliberately hiding it from me. Not to mention, it seems like a fire hazard.

Do I have any legal ground to stand on in terms of this NOT being allowed?

[ryanms3030]

If you're the landlord don't you know the terms of the lease?

[Exitus Acta Probat]

Reminds me of some of the stories I've heard about "refugees" in Lewiston, Maine.

[adr3naline]

I wouldn't suggest relying on random strangers to tell you tenant codes. That's just not a good idea.

Aside from that, your question is a bit unclear. Is it just the mom and daughter living there? We both know that 2 tenants in a 1-bed isn't an issue...so I can't imagine that's your question. Does it really bother you that her daughter sleeps in the kitchen area as opposed to the bedroom, living room, den...etc?

[jm1982]

Doesn't sound safe . Appliances could fall on her etc .

How did you find out about it ? a handyman mentioned it or something ?

I don't know if it would be grounds for eviction , but I'm thinking it should be documented so that at least there would be proof in case something does happen.

I'd ask the question on the BiggerPockets forum too , a great real estate investing forum .

Also a real estate attorney of course if you have one .

[BB_210]

Sounds like the daughter bis not on the lease. It also sounds like a code violation. You should really talk to a lawyer and kick them out.

[MItoBH]

If the daughter is not on the lease, she needs to be. She will also need to be approved based on credit report and criminal history. If she doesn't pass the background check on those, I reckon the landlord has the grounds to demand her to leave.

In the lease agreement, don't you have a clause in it that any other person older than 17 needs to be on the lease too? If so, the tenant is in violation of the lease terms and she risks being evicted.

[fluffythewondercat]

Originally Posted by minkman111

I own a triplex of 1 bedroom units in Culver City, CA. My tenant, a single person renting a 1 bedroom unit, has her daughter living in the kitchen. She puts a bed in the kitchen every night for her to sleep on. I would imagine this has to be against some tenant code to have other people living in non-livable places in the house without asking permission and deliberately hiding it from me. Not to mention, it seems like a fire hazard.

Do I have any legal ground to stand on in terms of this NOT being allowed?

I'd have to agree with previous posters: What does your lease say?

The rule of thumb re: # of occupants for most states is: 2 people to a bedroom plus one. So in theory, 3 people would be legal in your 1 bedroom unit. Legal but horrifying.

However, if your lease prohibits occupants that are not on the lease, you can tell her that Daughter needs to go.

[LoveMeSomeSFVHouses]

Agreed with everyone else above... there isn't' enough information. Fire codes usually allow 3 people for 1 bedrooms. So if it's less than 3 people then it should be legal. And most leases require everyone over the age of 18 to be listed on a lease, so if she's not a child, your grounds might be that (assuming she's not listed on there already). Check in with a lawyer to be sure. Manfredi Levine specializes in tenant law and I've always had good experiences with them.

[adr3naline]

Another thought...have you politely asked your tenant not to do this? There's no point in jumping straight to notices/legalities if you can solve the matter via simple conversation.

Please know that I'm not making an assumption about you, OP. In today's world people just seem to forget that they can be cordial and solve matters without making it into a "thing."