Hello, I am in California.
My husband and I have decided to sell our second home that we rent out. This rental agreement was, very much to my chagrin, verbal ONLY, and has held as a month-to-month tenancy. This tenancy was realized withOUT any deposit, security or otherwise, and no pre-payment of first or last month's rents. The tenant did not change over the natural gas for several months, and never repaid a debt of $700+, which we have given up asking for. We just want our rent.
As verbally discussed with our tenant, we gave him first right of refusal upon our decision to sell. After a week he told us he cannot buy the home, but also cannot live in a home that's listed for sale. We told him we would wait to actually list the property, and at 30+ days it is still not listed.
We informed him that our realtor believes that the home should sell and close escrow by the end of November. He has lived there just over a year, and we felt that 90 days notice should be sufficient. However, he informed us again that he will NOT live in a house that's on the market. We said fine, we understood, and he gave us notice of a move-out date of November 1. At that point we believed that he and his wife intended to remain on the property until November 1st. I personally informed him he cannot prevent us from placing the house on the market, though I did understand his feelings regarding living in a property that is up for sale.
Fast forward to the September 1, when rent is due; My husband called the tenant twice, asking if he'd sent the rent. The tenant did not return calls. He called a third time on September 2, and a fourth on September 3 and asked if we were going to "get stiffed", then told him that if he did intend to not pay rent we were going to have to evict him.
Our tenant did not like what was originally a "disturbing" (and is now a "threatening") phone call, called me personally and finally informed me, after I had to ask him several times, that he did not intend to pay us a dime, and that he and his wife were going to be moving out instead by September 15th. I informed him that if he did not pay any rent but instead remained on the property that I intended to serve him with a 3 Day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit on September 5th, as he has no right to live there rent-free. His response was, "Go ahead, you won't get anywhere."
On Friday, September 5th, just before 5pm I went to the property and personally handed him the notice. I offered to tear it up and forget about it if he would just pay the rent. He again refused, saying that he felt he had a moral right to remain and not pay rent because he didn't like my husband's phone call. I tried to convince him that it would be better for everyone involved, and he still refused. The next day, because his wife, while in the house, never came out my husband and I mailed by registered letter the same notice.
Today, September 8, the Notice expires. I have begun preparing papers to file an Unlawful Detainer, however, our tenant has the habit of taking in roommates - all others after the first one have been completely unnamed. I believe that this complicates the matter for us, since we actually have no idea whether or not there is a third party residing in the home. I know the name of our primary tenant (the fellow we entered into the agreement with) and his wife, but at this point have NO idea how, exactly, to go about ensuring that our behinds are covered in regards to making sure that we violate no laws of tenancy or otherwise. I know that we probably should file a called Pre-judgment Claim of Right to Possession. We understand that this will delay the action, however, when considering over $1,000 of unpaid rent, we feel it's worth it.
Is there anything else that we are missing, and/or should know?
My husband and I have decided to sell our second home that we rent out. This rental agreement was, very much to my chagrin, verbal ONLY, and has held as a month-to-month tenancy. This tenancy was realized withOUT any deposit, security or otherwise, and no pre-payment of first or last month's rents. The tenant did not change over the natural gas for several months, and never repaid a debt of $700+, which we have given up asking for. We just want our rent.
As verbally discussed with our tenant, we gave him first right of refusal upon our decision to sell. After a week he told us he cannot buy the home, but also cannot live in a home that's listed for sale. We told him we would wait to actually list the property, and at 30+ days it is still not listed.
We informed him that our realtor believes that the home should sell and close escrow by the end of November. He has lived there just over a year, and we felt that 90 days notice should be sufficient. However, he informed us again that he will NOT live in a house that's on the market. We said fine, we understood, and he gave us notice of a move-out date of November 1. At that point we believed that he and his wife intended to remain on the property until November 1st. I personally informed him he cannot prevent us from placing the house on the market, though I did understand his feelings regarding living in a property that is up for sale.
Fast forward to the September 1, when rent is due; My husband called the tenant twice, asking if he'd sent the rent. The tenant did not return calls. He called a third time on September 2, and a fourth on September 3 and asked if we were going to "get stiffed", then told him that if he did intend to not pay rent we were going to have to evict him.
Our tenant did not like what was originally a "disturbing" (and is now a "threatening") phone call, called me personally and finally informed me, after I had to ask him several times, that he did not intend to pay us a dime, and that he and his wife were going to be moving out instead by September 15th. I informed him that if he did not pay any rent but instead remained on the property that I intended to serve him with a 3 Day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit on September 5th, as he has no right to live there rent-free. His response was, "Go ahead, you won't get anywhere."
On Friday, September 5th, just before 5pm I went to the property and personally handed him the notice. I offered to tear it up and forget about it if he would just pay the rent. He again refused, saying that he felt he had a moral right to remain and not pay rent because he didn't like my husband's phone call. I tried to convince him that it would be better for everyone involved, and he still refused. The next day, because his wife, while in the house, never came out my husband and I mailed by registered letter the same notice.
Today, September 8, the Notice expires. I have begun preparing papers to file an Unlawful Detainer, however, our tenant has the habit of taking in roommates - all others after the first one have been completely unnamed. I believe that this complicates the matter for us, since we actually have no idea whether or not there is a third party residing in the home. I know the name of our primary tenant (the fellow we entered into the agreement with) and his wife, but at this point have NO idea how, exactly, to go about ensuring that our behinds are covered in regards to making sure that we violate no laws of tenancy or otherwise. I know that we probably should file a called Pre-judgment Claim of Right to Possession. We understand that this will delay the action, however, when considering over $1,000 of unpaid rent, we feel it's worth it.
Is there anything else that we are missing, and/or should know?