What is the proper way to terminate a tenants lease without reason?
Full Question:
Answer:
Without a written lease, a tenant is generally considered a month-to-month, at-will tenant. A landlord can terminate a month-to-month tenancy simply by giving the tenant 30 or 60 days' advance written notice.
A landlord can end a periodic tenancy(for example, a month-to-month tenancy) by giving the tenant proper advance written notice. A landlord must give 60 days' advance written notice that the tenancy will end if the tenant and every other tenant or resident have lived in the rental unit for a year or more. However, the landlord can give 30 days' advance written notice in either of the following situations:
Any tenant or resident has lived in the rental unit less than one year; or
The landlord has contracted to sell the rental unit to another person who intends to occupy it for at least a year after the tenancy ends. In addition, all of the following must be true in order for the selling landlord to give a 30-day notice:
The landlord must have opened escrow with a licensed escrow agent or real estate broker, and
The landlord must have given you the 30-day notice no later than 120 days after opening the escrow, and
The landlord must not previously have given you a 30-day or 60-day notice, and
The rental unit must be one that can be sold separately from any other dwelling unit.182a
The landlord usually isn't required to state a reason for ending the tenancy in the 30-day or 60-day notice.
In California, the landlord can terminate the tenancy by giving the tenant only three days' advance written notice if the tenant has done any of the following:
-Failed to pay the rent.
-Violated any provision of the lease or rental agreement.
-Materially damaged the rental property ("committed waste").
-Substantially interfered with other tenants ("committed a nuisance").
-Used the rental property for an unlawful purpose.
If the landlord gives the tenant a three-day notice because the tenant hasn't paid the rent, the notice must accurately state the amount of rent that is due. In addition, the notice must state:
-The name, address and telephone number of the person to whom the rent must be paid.
-If payment may be made in person, the usual days and hours that the person is available to receive the rent payment. If the
address does not accept personal deliveries, then you can mail the rent to the owner at the name and address stated in the
three-day notice. If you can show proof that you mailed the rent to the stated name and address (for example, a receipt for
certified mail), the law assumes that the rent payment is received by the owner on the date of postmark.
Instead, the notice may state the name, street address and account number of the financial institution where the rent payment may be made (if the institution is within five miles of the unit). If an electronic fund transfer procedure was previously established for paying rent, payment may be made using that procedure. The landlord normally cannot require that the tenant pay the past-due rent in cash.
If the three-day notice is based on one of the other conditions listed above, the notice must either describe the tenant's violation of the lease or rental agreement, or describe the tenant's other improper conduct. The three-day notice must be properly served on the tenant
Depending on the type of violation, the notice may specify (1) that the tenant correct the violation or leave the rental unit, or (2) that the tenant move out. If the violation is something able to be corrected, such as late lpayment of rent, the notice must give the tenant the option to correct the violation. However, the other three conditions listed above cannot be corrected, and the three-day notice can simply order the tenant to leave at the end of the three days.