Re: California-Eviction - Posted by Jimbob
Posted by Jimbob on December 21, 1998 at 19:52:39:
Al,
The laws vary all over the country when it comes to rentals and should it look as though you may have to go to eviction, unless you are a seasoned property owner and know the laws inside and out, it is imperative you seek legal counsel to perform the eviction.
In my state, if tenants are on a month to month rental agreement, I must give them in writing at least 20 days notice before the next rent is due to move out, and if I do so, I do not need any specific reason to ask them to leave. Actually if you do give a reason you could be asking for more trouble as it gives them leagl ground to fight you on.
Again, in my state, if the tenants were on a lease like 6 months or one year and I was terminating the lease and asking them to leave, then I need a good reason why. The top of the list is non payment of rent.
There is a common mis conception on renters parts, that the landlords must give a reason when terminating a month to month tenancy, in a lot of cases that is not true. I suspect they are using stalling tactics on you to put off the move. As for the oral agreement, some states consider that binding, but in most cases a lease must be in writing to be valid.
Consult with a professional eviction company in your area to handle this for you, if it goes all the way to the Sherriff kicking them out, it will cost you around $500 depending on your local laws and the time it takes to get it done. That is very cheap when you consider law suits and anything else that can happen if you try to do it yourself.
In the last 5 years I have performed 8 evictions, only 1 of them actually went to the Sherriff, once they see you mean business, they usually scoot out. By the way, I have only had 1 tenant trash my property, the one the Sherriff had to kick out.
Good Luck…
Jimbob