Tenant not Paying Rent and has signed contract (CA)

[Gris9953]

All of these responses were extremely helpful !!! Thank you all

[jw2]

Originally Posted by generalswife

3-day notice to pay or quit. I never accept partial payments and I don't make reminder calls.

You may have your reasons for not accepting partial payments but because there is a common misunderstanding of them, I would like to advise in California accepting the partial rent does not waive any rights or defenses of either party. The landlord just needs to adjust the complaint and notify the tenant that the partial rent payment does not constitute a waiver of any rights.

This has not come up for me, but I would take a partial payment, no reason not to.

California Code of Civil Procedure Section 1161.1 (b) (c)

CA Codes (ccp:1159-1179a)
1161.1
..
(b) If the landlord accepts a partial payment of rent, including any payment pursuant to subdivision (a), after serving notice pursuant to Section 1161, the landlord, without any further notice to the tenant, may commence and pursue an action under this chapter to recover the difference between the amount demanded in that notice and the payment actually received, and this shall be specified in the complaint.
(c) If the landlord accepts a partial payment of rent after filing the complaint pursuant to Section 1166, the landlord's acceptance of the partial payment is evidence only of that payment, without waiver of any rights or defenses of any of the parties. The landlord shall be entitled to amend the complaint to reflect the partial payment without creating a necessity for the filing of an additional answer or other responsive pleading by the tenant, and without prior leave of court, and such an amendment shall not delay the matter from proceeding. However, this subdivision shall apply only if the landlord provides actual notice to the tenant that acceptance of the partial rent payment does not constitute a waiver of any rights, including any right the landlord may have to recover possession of the property.

[ground_pounder]

How would you feel if you worked all week long and your employer to you they don't have a paycheck for you. guess what your tenant has told you that!! do you really work for nothing.. you don't make any money off of evictions id'e just cut my losses already. your tenant is taking money that is stopping you from providing for YOUR family!!! and since there taking money from me and my family I would even consider them a thief for stealing my property living in it rent free. i'm sure there's a lot more people that are deserving than this idiot

[ground_pounder]

Originally Posted by Gris9953

My tenant has not paid the monthly rent completely. I have to constantly keep calling them to pay me but they never do. I have already had them sign a seperate contract stating that if they don't pay on time they are trespassing my property and I can call the local police to evacuate them. I was wondering if I could actually use that written contract to evict them from my property ?

id'e sign that contract then I would turn around and sue you for not properly evicting me as i'm sure there's a few things that I would be able to sue for in that kind of situation. now what would you do if the judge awarded em 6 months free rent as a part of your screw up since you didn't want to do it the legal way. i'm sure that would frost you more then the tenant not paying atleast you can get him out while your still ahead. if you didn't give him a 3 day notice to pay or quit and if he don't pay then file an eviction immediately and get it started. heck by letting him stay there rent free you might as well give him a blank check and your credit cards and tell them to spend it you don't care!! I could just see it if my kids wanted something and I promised it to them and I told them that I can't afford it because I had to pay the homeless tennants rent.

[Electrician4you]

Originally Posted by ground_pounder

id'e sign that contract then I would turn around and sue you for not properly evicting me as i'm sure there's a few things that I would be able to sue for in that kind of situation. now what would you do if the judge awarded em 6 months free rent as a part of your screw up since you didn't want to do it the legal way. i'm sure that would frost you more then the tenant not paying atleast you can get him out while your still ahead. if you didn't give him a 3 day notice to pay or quit and if he don't pay then file an eviction immediately and get it started. heck by letting him stay there rent free you might as well give him a blank check and your credit cards and tell them to spend it you don't care!! I could just see it if my kids wanted something and I promised it to them and I told them that I can't afford it because I had to pay the homeless tennants rent.

In order to sue you would have to have monetary damages/amount. There is nothing to sue for. You have no damages. You were not damaged when you were improperly served. You were simply improperly served and you can legally ignore the notice. No judge is going to award 6 month free rent. No she's not going to have to pay his rent. He would get "free" rent in the sense he's not paying but he is still liable for the rent and owing that rent. But ultimately he will be found liable. Best thing for OP is to get a lawyer involved and have him look at the case/problem.