The California Landlord's Law Book: Rights & Responsibilities

Introduction

1. Renting Your Property: How to Choose Tenants and Avoid Legal Pitfalls

• Adopt a Rental Plan and Stick to It
• Advertising Rental Property
• Dealing With Prospective Tenants
• Checking Background, References, and Credit History of Potential Tenants
• Choosing—And Rejecting—An Applicant
• Holding Deposits

2. Understanding Leases and Rental Agreements

• Oral Agreements Are Not Recommended
• Written Agreements: Which Is Better, a Lease or a Rental Agreement?
• Common Legal Provisions in Lease and Rental Agreement Forms
• How to Modify and Sign Form Agreements
• Cosigners
• Illegal Lease and Rental Agreement Provisions

3. Basic Rent Rules

• How Much Can You Charge?
• When Rent Is Due
• Where and How Rent Is Due
• Late Charges
• Returned Check Charges
• Partial Rent Payments

4. Rent Control

• Property Exempt From Rent Control
• Local Rent Control Administration
• Registration of Rental Properties
• Rent Formula and Individual Adjustments
• Security Deposits
• Certification of Correct Rent Levels by Board
• Vacancy Decontrol
• Tenant Protections: Just Cause Evictions
• Rent Control Board Hearings
• Legal Sanctions for Violating Rent Control

5. Security Deposits

• Security Deposits Must Be Refundable
• How Landlords May Use Deposits
• Dollar Limits on Deposits
• How to Increase Deposit Amounts
• Last Month’s Rent
• Interest, Accounts, and Record Keeping on Deposits
• Insurance as a Backup to Deposits
• When Rental Property Is Sold
• When You’re Purchasing Rental Property

6. Property Managers

• Hiring Your Own Manager
• Avoiding Legal Problems
• Management Companies
• An Owner’s Liability for a Manager’s Acts
• Notifying Tenants of the Manager
• Firing a Manager
• Evicting a Manager

7. Getting the Tenant Moved In

• Inspect and Photograph the Unit
• Send New Tenants a Move-In Letter
• First Month’s Rent and Security Deposit Checks

8. Lawyers, Legal Research, Eviction Services, and Mediation

• Legal Research Tools
• Mediating Disputes With Tenants
• Nonlawyer Eviction Services
• Finding a Lawyer
• Paying a Lawyer
• Resolving Problems With Your Lawyer

9. Discrimination

• Legal Reasons for Refusing to Rent to a Tenant
• Sources of Discrimination Laws
• Forbidden Types of Discrimination
• Occupancy Limits
• Legal Penalties for Discrimination
• Owner-Occupied Premises and Occasional Rentals
• Managers and Discrimination
• Insurance Coverage for Discrimination Claims

10. Cotenants, Subtenants, and Guests

• Renting to More Than One Tenant
• Subtenants and Sublets
• When a Tenant Brings in a Roommate
• If a Tenant Leaves and Assigns the Lease to Someone

11. The Landlord’s Duty to Repair and Maintain the Property

• State and Local Housing Standards
• Enforcement of Housing Standards
• Maintenance of Appliances and Other Amenities
• The Tenant’s Responsibilities
• The Tenant’s Right to Repair and Deduct
• The Tenant’s Right to Withhold Rent When the Premises Aren’t Habitable
• The Landlord’s Options If a Tenant Repairs and Deducts or Withholds Rent
• The Tenant’s Right to Move Out
• The Tenant’s Right to Sue for Defective Conditions
• Avoid Rent Withholding and Other Tenant Remedies by Adopting a High-Quality Repair and Maintenance System
• Tenant Updates and Landlord’s Regular Safety and Maintenance Inspections
• Tenants’ Alterations and Improvements
• Cable TV
• Satellite Dishes and Other Antennas

12. The Landlord’s Liability for Dangerous Conditions, Criminal Acts, and Environmental Health Hazards

• Legal Standards for Liability
• Landlord’s Responsibility to Protect Tenants From Crime
• How to Protect Your Tenants From Criminal Acts While Also Reducing Your Potential Liability
• Protecting Tenants From Each Other (and From the Manager)
• Landlord Liability for Drug-Dealing Tenants
• Liability for Environmental Hazards
• Liability, Property, and Other Types of Insurance

13. The Landlord’s Right of Entry and Tenant’s Privacy

• The Landlord’s Right of Entry
• Entry by Others
• Other Types of Invasions of Privacy
• What to Do When Tenants Are Unreasonable
• Tenants’ Remedies If a Landlord Acts Illegally

14. Raising Rents and Changing Other Terms of Tenancy

• Basic Rules to Change or End a Tenancy
• Rent Increase Rules
• Preparing a Notice to Raise Rent
• How to Serve the Notice on the Tenant
• When the Rent Increase Takes Effect
• Changing Terms Other Than Rent

15. Retaliatory Rent Increases and Evictions

• Types of Prohibited Retaliation
• Proving Retaliation
• Avoiding Charges of Retaliation
• Liability for Illegal Retaliation

16. The Three-Day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit

• When to Use a Three-Day Notice
• How to Determine the Amount of Rent Due
• How to Fill Out a Three-Day Notice
• Serving the Three-Day Notice on the Tenant
• When the Tenant Offers to Pay Rent
• If the Tenant Won’t Pay Rent (or Leave)

17. Self-Help Evictions, Utility Terminations, and Taking Tenants’ Property

• Forcible Evictions
• Blocking or Driving the Tenant Out Without Force
• Seizing the Tenant’s Property and Other Harassment
• Effect of Landlord’s Forcible Eviction on a Tenant’s Liability for Rent

18. Terminating Tenancies

• The 30-, 60-, or 90-Day Notice
• The Three-Day Notice in Cities That Don’t Require Just Cause for Eviction
• Termination When Just Cause for Eviction Is Required
• Termination Without Notice
• The Initial Move-Out Inspection Notice

19. When a Tenant Leaves: Month-to-Month Tenancies, Fixed-Term Leases, Abandonment, and Death of a Tenant

• Terminating Month-to-Month Tenancies
• Terminating Fixed-Term Leases
• Termination by Tenant Abandoning Premises
• What to Do When Some Tenants Leave and Others Stay
• Death of a Tenant

20. Returning Security Deposits

• Basic Rules for Returning Deposits
• Initial Move-Out Inspection and Right to Receipts
• Final Inspection
• Deductions for Cleaning and Damages
• Deductions for Unpaid Rent
• Preparing an Itemized Statement of Deductions
• Small Claims Lawsuits by the Tenant
• If the Deposit Doesn’t Cover Damage and Unpaid Rent

21. Property Abandoned by a Tenant

• Handling, Storing, and Disposing of Personal Property
• Motor Vehicles Left Behind

Appendixes

A. Rent Control Chart

• Reading Your Rent Control Ordinance
• Finding Municipal Codes and Rent Control Ordinances Online
• California Imposes Statewide Limitations on Cities’ Rent Control Ordinances

B. How to Use the CD-ROM

• Installing the Files Onto Your Computer
• Using the Word Processing Files to Create Documents
• Using Print-Only Files
• Files on the CD-ROM

C. Tear-Out Forms

Index