eviction rights re: room rental

[DonnaCarol]

I have some questions regarding my eviction rights with my roomate to whom I rent 2 bedrooms in my own home. Our rental agreement was never put in writing. I recently drew up an agreement which he refused to sign. As of today he is paid up through the 15th of April. My problem is that I want him to move out. I'm assuming that the customary 30 day written notice is in order, although I'd like him out ASAP, and I suspect that he will not comply. I'm not sure what the procedure is for evicting a tenant under these circumstances and what my rights are. I am in California.

[Edited by DonnaCarol on 04-08-2001 at 03:57 PM]

 

[watchereye]

guru

there's a guy on here, he's a lawyer, named the homeguru i think, find him

 

[watchereye]

LL

looks like this LL guy really knows what's up too

 

[LL]

Is Home Guru lost?

 

[watchereye]

lol

maybe donnacarol is in luck, LL is evidently witty as well as knowledgable

 

[DonnaCarol]

Re: lol

maybe donnacarol is in luck, LL is evidently witty as well as knowledgable

Can anyone tell me if the regular landlord/tenant laws apply to me in this case. Its very difficult to find information on this. I have information regarding landlord rights but it doesn't mention anything about room rental.

 

[LL]

I don't know about room rentals.

If I were mary hartman (aka djdj, aka dj1) that wouldn't stop me from telling you what to do.

 

[watchereye]

lol

LOL LL, mary caught my attention to, I bit a hole in my lip

 

[DonnaCarol]

Does anyone know how/where I can get information pertaining to my above problem? Nowhere in regular landlord/tenant rights handbooks do they mention about room rental.

 

[watchereye]

atty

have you tried calling a real estae atty office?

 

[LL]

If you are referring to the California Tenants Handbook, you should be aware that it is riddled with false interpretations of the law. It was originally written put out by the attoirney general's office and (get this) the Commission on the Status of Women, before the department of consumer affairs took it over.

The judges all know about it. I was once sued by tenants for return of deductions from the security deposit. They waved the handbook. The judge said immediatly, lets see what the law actually says, opened the civil code, pointed out the difference (as if he didnt already know) and summarily dismissed the case, without my even saying a word.

That doesn't help you, looking for information about a room rental, but it does tell you not to look to the book for advice.

By the way, apparently, you don't have a roommate problem, you have a subtenant problem. Maybe just an eviction would do, but I don't have experience. And you don't want a real estate attorney, you want an EVICTION attorney. Get one who does nothing else but evictions.

 

[DonnaCarol]

The situation with my roommant/tenant is quite a bit more complicated than I've let on. Soon after he moved in he began having problems paying the rent in a timely manner. I should've kicked him out then but I believed in his good intentions and was lenient with him. He seems to have had very bad luck but has continued to promise he will pay me when things got better for him. Over the last 1 1/2 years he has managed to get behind to the tune of $2,700. He also stored a bunch of his stuff in my garage (including a dead car in the driveway). I agreed to let him store it (the stuff not the car) for a few weeks when he first moved in. And I've been harassing him to move it out ever since. Since we only had a verbal agreement I got nervous about the money he owed me so I had him sign a promisory note for the full amount. The deal was that he agreed to pay me back that amount in installments while keeping current with the rent. So far he is paid up through the 15th of this month. I already served him with a 30 day notice. What I'd really like to do is serve him with a 3-day eviction notice because technically he's 4 months late with the rent but I may have messed up my chance by seperating out the back rent as a kind of loan. So for sure I believe that I'm fully within my rights to serve this 30-day notice. What I don't know is what I'm supposed to do if he can't move out by this time. I've tried to get him to move out before but he's managed to talk me out of it. (I know I appear to be a bit of a sucker but believe me I've learned my lesson). Is it safe to assume that my rights are the same as any landlord's or are they different when its owner occupied? After the 30-day notice should I post an eviction notice and start legal proceedings? I don't want to have to hire a lawyer and I don't want to be liable in any way either. Is there anything in lawbooks that cover this kind of arrangement? I'm willing to do some research I just don't know where to go. Please advise.

One more thing... that dead car in my driveway hasn't been registered since 1995. Can I have it towed? I never agreed to let him store it. He actually had it towed to the street in front of my house when he first moved in and it got towed. This is really such a messy situation and I need it to be resolved in a hurry.

 

[LL]

The very fact that you let him get behind by $2700 and you still don't have the will power to put him out, tells me that you really aren't meant for the landlord's life.

Get a lawyer, get one that does nothing but evictions, and get him right away. In Southern California there is one (thats right, one) with about 5 offices in 3 counties, and he does evictions on an assembly line basis. It will cost you a lot less than the $2700 that you are already out.