Renter in California (movers, eviction, house) - (CA) - City-Data Forum

tennant · 03-28-2015, 11:34 AM

I rent a house in the Bay Area in California. The owner told me on the phone he wanted to come in on a certain day. I called him back and told him I had movers coming that day and he would have to come the following weekend. He said: "I am coming whether you like it or not." He said much more and was a little frightening. I am a single lady living in this house alone. I felt threatened. He gave me approval to my letter to move out first of the month of a certain month. Since then, I am letting a group of people come in to look at the house to do estimates. Now they are saying they want to start painting and doing work on the outside of the house. I have all my belongings outside and I want to know if what he is legal. He is a nuisance. He constantly calls me. He has been seen and I have observed him driving past the house on numerous occasions. Any suggestions. I only have 40 days or so left here and want to be able to pack and move out. He is really delaying the situation.

marcopolo666 · 03-28-2015, 05:35 PM

For the first problem (the movers) I would have answered "well, you've been informed that there will be movers there that day. If you come, no complaints about it."

Secondly, I don't see that he has done anything illegal. So long as he informs you far enough ahead (48 hours???) then he has the right to come on the property, including inside the unit. (Although there may be a limit on how often he can do this.) I don't know if work on the outside of the house is OK while you are a tenant or not. I *believe* (but am not sure) that he cannot require you to allow his worker's inside the house while you are living there (unless it is a livability issue, such as plumbing problem, broken heater, mold issue, etc). I think he will have to wait until you move out to paint, clean carpets, etc *inside* the house.

There is a regular poster here who is very savvy in terms of renter/rentee rights and responsibilities.

2sleepy · 03-28-2015, 05:59 PM

I would work with him on this, he has a right to enter the premises, usually 24 hours notice is adequate. If you want to make him follow the law you can require written notice, but you need to consider what kind of hassle he is going to put you through when you move out and ask for your deposit back. As marcopolo said, let him come when the movers are there, that's his problem - not yours.

I don't see how painting and working on the outside of the house is going to impact you in any major way. You might want to reconsider leaving all your stuff outside because by doing so he can give you a 5 day notice stating that your property outside is creating a nuisance- that is a valid reason for a 5 day notice.

Dude111 · 03-29-2015, 01:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tennant

He said: "I am coming whether you like it or not."

Welcome to city-data!!!

I dont blame you for feeling threatend,I WOULDNT DO BUSINESS WITH SOMEONE LIKE THIS......... He doesnt seem to care what YOUR AGENDA is!!

Good luck

aslowdodge · 03-29-2015, 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tennant

I rent a house in the Bay Area in California. The owner told me on the phone he wanted to come in on a certain day. I called him back and told him I had movers coming that day and he would have to come the following weekend. He said: "I am coming whether you like it or not." He said much more and was a little frightening. I am a single lady living in this house alone. I felt threatened. He gave me approval to my letter to move out first of the month of a certain month. Since then, I am letting a group of people come in to look at the house to do estimates. Now they are saying they want to start painting and doing work on the outside of the house. I have all my belongings outside and I want to know if what he is legal. He is a nuisance. He constantly calls me. He has been seen and I have observed him driving past the house on numerous occasions. Any suggestions. I only have 40 days or so left here and want to be able to pack and move out. He is really delaying the situation.

Why do you feel threatened? What exactly did he say?
Is he a nuisance or is he just keeping you informed of everything happening and you just don't like it?
He is the owner of the house -not you. He may be driving by the house to check the status and size up what repairs and upgrades it needs.

Renters like to complain about landlords bothering them for inspections, but also like to complain that the place is in poor condition. Sometimes it's good a landlord will periodically come in to inspect the house to make sure it is in good shape and head off small problems before they become big repairs later which may become a habitability issue later for the tenants.
I had a tenant that did not tell me a tub was leaking. Had I not inspected it on my own it would have eventually meant an expensive repair for a new subfloor and flooring as well as mold problems for the tenant.

Des-Lab · 03-29-2015, 11:09 AM

Perhaps a related follow up question is:

How long can one LEGALLY stay in a place rent-free? I know that California tends to be "tenant friendly" by which that means renters generally have greater freedoms and rights than landlords. I'm pretty sure that the days of three day eviction are over and that in reality the owner has to jump through a lot of hoops to remove a non-paying tenant by force. I've heard estimates ranging from 30 days to six months that someone can *LEGALLY* albeit unethically live someplace rent free for quite a while with their heels dug in if they know how to push back against the 'lord.

2sleepy · 03-29-2015, 11:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Des-Lab

Perhaps a related follow up question is:

How long can one LEGALLY stay in a place rent-free? I know that California tends to be "tenant friendly" by which that means renters generally have greater freedoms and rights than landlords. I'm pretty sure that the days of three day eviction are over and that in reality the owner has to jump through a lot of hoops to remove a non-paying tenant by force. I've heard estimates ranging from 30 days to six months that someone can *LEGALLY* albeit unethically live someplace rent free for quite a while with their heels dug in if they know how to push back against the 'lord.

It depends, if the tenant requests a trial they can play all sorts of games with delaying the trial date, if they don't respond it's not very hard to get a default judgment and evict them. I don't think it will come to that in this case, but I think it's in the OP's best interest to try to accommodate the landlords requests- if for no other reason, she just might want to use the landlord as a reference some day.