Can I evict a tenant in Ca with 3 late payments if lease states 3 will cause default says 3 paymets (apartment, lease agreement)

[nuffinspecial]

Hi there. I have tenants that have payed late, were short last month, and will miss this months payments on time as well. They have lived there since April. It is a year lease.

Here is the yearly lease agreement verbatim:

8. LATE FEE:
A. If the rent or any other charges are not received by the Landlord on or before 5 days after the rent due date, Tenant must pay a late fee of $50 in addition to the rent.
B. Rental payments paid late 3 times within a 12 month period creates a default of the Lease Agreement.
C. Payments received by Landlord when there are arrearages, shall be credited first, to any outstanding balance, and then applied
to the current amount due.

If it is default, can I give them 30 or 60 days notice. I want new tenants.

[nuffinspecial]

Ok no answers but a lot of views.

I will write up a 30 day notice since I have records of late payments. They deposit rent directly in my bank account.

[STT Resident]

Be not so impatient - you only posted last night! Since you don't seem to know much about your state's landlord tenant laws, it might be better for you to consult an attorney about your current dilemma. No, you cannot just write up a 30 day notice. First you have to serve a three day notice and, if the rent isn't brought up to date at the end of those three days then you file legal eviction. Google, "CA landlord tenant laws". Good luck.

[wireyourworld]

Yeah, read your laws. Even if you do get to court, the judge may not find in your favor. Around here, once you accept a late payment, you show that you are willing and that its the norm for you to accept late payments. So when you finally get sick of it, post the 3 day notice, the $350 court fee and wait the 60 days or so for the court date, while the tenant lives rent-free, the judge may simply order the tenant to pay within five days, and let them stay in your place. And the whole ball of crap starts again the next month. I saw it happen while I was sitting in the court waiting to evict my first tenants. In my case, I didn't even get a real eviction, the tenants sure knew how to work the system better then I did and showed up in court, with the keys and handed them over. Since they gave over possession and vacated, they had no record, and I was out about $2000 at that point. Grrrrrrr.

[STT Resident]

That's a good point to make about accepting late payments even when you're also collecting a late fee. It's a bit of a tricky issue where courts are concerned which is why I suggested the OP enlist the services of an attorney. As a LL becomes more experienced, the eviction process can be pretty uncomplicated and handled without an attorney but in this case it wouldn't be a good idea. The OP also needs to run his lease agreement by an attorney to make sure that it covers all the bases and is in compliance with state law. A generic lease is only worth the paper it's printed on and it's well worth the money to make sure you have a good lease which reflects your particular situation.

[nuffinspecial]

Yea thats what I figured. The lease is up in April. I have learned, in the future, to do a month to month lease. Simpler.

So my dilemma is

1) serve a 3 day pay or quit. If they don't pay then I can start the eviction process. They don't have to get out immediately, its a family with 4 kids, but I want to let them stay till Jan 30th. That should give them time (without paying rent) to find another place. I can find new tenants in Feb.

But if they don't get out and just sit there, who knows how long it will take to get them out (unknown)


2) Accept payments. There are 4 months left on the lease anyway. It's not that they haven't been paying, its just they are always late. It's just getting on my nerves that I have a below market rate for them, and I could be charging $300 bucks more.


I think the civil thing to do would be to accept payments and not renew the lease. Less headache and no potential legal problems.

[nuffinspecial]

I have a fully prepared 50 page state specific lease. I'm just pissed that I can find renters now (the economy is somewhat better) that are willing to pay more than the current tenants now.

I will just eat the cost and deal with the late payments for another few months.

[STT Resident]

Please do some very careful research before deciding to go with a month to month rental agreement. They have their own pitfalls and if you're renting out your place to a family with four children it's obviously not a simple little studio apartment. What you "figure" and what really works may be totally disparate and in order to protect your rental investment I stand by my advice to consult a qualified real estate attorney and get all your ducks in a row before renting it out again. Good luck.

[jw2]

I suggest you get this (or similar) book. The California Landlord's Law Book by David Brown - Nolo
Is this property in a rent control area (Cities with Rent Control )? If so, there be some local ordinances and guidelines that will also come to play. Consult the jurisdiction's web site for more details

[nuffinspecial]

it is not rent controlled. I have read through the california's rental guide. It's just not worth the potential downside to go ahead with an eviction

I am in the process of moving to a new location and will most likely get a property management company to handle my rental in the future.