Business eviction

[Silentwriter180]

Ok, I have a question. I, unfortunately, haven't been able to pay rent in full for the last few months as business has been slow. My landlord has been very patient with me, and I've told him on September 3rd that I'd be out by the end of the month and would send him what I owed him through money orders. He didn't reply. This morning, on the tenth, he asked if I could be out by the 21st. I hadn't responded yet, as I needed to check with my husband's schedule to see if that's possible. Then also today, I get a 3-day notice. Can he do that on the very same day he asked about my being out on the 21st? Also, is his lack of response for a week, after my notice, considered acquiescence and does make a difference in legal standing?

 

[Silentwriter180]

Im in California, btw

 

[LdiJ]

Ok, I have a question. I, unfortunately, haven't been able to pay rent in full for the last few months as business has been slow. My landlord has been very patient with me, and I've told him on September 3rd that I'd be out by the end of the month and would send him what I owed him through money orders. He didn't reply. This morning, on the tenth, he asked if I could be out by the 21st. I hadn't responded yet, as I needed to check with my husband's schedule to see if that's possible. Then also today, I get a 3-day notice. Can he do that on the very same day he asked about my being out on the 21st? Also, is his lack of response for a week, after my notice, considered acquiescence and does make a difference in legal standing?

He has to give you the 3 day notice to preserve his right to take you to court to attempt to get an eviction, if you don't move out when you said you would. That doesn't mean that he expects you to actually be out in three days. However, I do recommend that you get the most important things out of there immediately, just to be safe. The landlord cannot lock you out or remove you without a court order, but sometimes landlords break the rules.

 

[Silentwriter180]

He has to give you the 3 day notice to preserve his right to take you to court to attempt to get an eviction, if you don't move out when you said you would. That doesn't mean that he expects you to actually be out in three days. However, I do recommend that you get the most important things out of there immediately, just to be safe. The landlord cannot lock you out or remove you without a court order, but sometimes landlords break the rules.

So that eviction notice should have come after the date that I told him I'd be out, at the end of the month...not now... am I following that correctly?

 

[zddoodah]

Then also today, I get a 3-day notice. Can he do that on the very same day he asked about my being out on the 21st?

He did do it, so it's obvious that he can do it, and there was nothing legally improper about it. Presumably, he wants to incentivize you being out by the 21st.

is his lack of response for a week, after my notice, considered acquiescence and does make a difference in legal standing?

No.

As a practical matter, there's not much difference between the 30th and the 21st. Once the 3-day notice period expires, he can file an eviction action, but nothing will happen before the end of the month.

 

[LdiJ]

So that eviction notice should have come after the date that I told him I'd be out, at the end of the month...not now... am I following that correctly?

That three day notice isn't really an eviction notice. It is a notice that if you do not pay or vacate in 3 days, that he is legally allowed to file an eviction case against you in court, which could result in an eviction if the judge agrees you should be evicted. The judge of course will agree that you need to be evicted since you are so far behind in rent, but you cannot be evicted until the judge says so.

He needed to do that in order to get the process going so that if you don't move out promptly, that he will be able to immediately file in court for eviction, and won't have to start the process from scratch. This is legally smart and proper. So no, the notice should NOT have come after the date that you told him you would be out.

You are the one in the wrong here. You have breached a contract, your lease, by not paying what you were contractually obligated to pay, when you were contractually obligated to pay it. Your landlord could have given you a 3 day notice after you were late with your rent the very first time. However he has been quite lenient with you. Now that he knows that you are not going to be able to get caught up and stay caught up he needs to re-rent the unit as soon as possible, and therefore he has to make sure that if you don't move out he can get the legal process moving asap.

 

[adjusterjack]

I would ad that, as a business rental contract, you don't have the same rights as a residential tenant.

Your rights, and obligations, are in your rental contract.