Renewing the lease term for the Tenants in CA

[Aastha Shrestha]

This is my first investment in real estate in the California Bay Area. I bought a rental property with existing tenant living for 6-7 years. The current tenants has a month-to-month lease and the rent is very low compared to the market rate. My question is would I be able to change the lease term and raise the monthly rent to these tenants? Any suggestions would be appreciated! Thank you!

[Nathan Gesner]

Quote from @Aastha Shrestha:

This is my first investment in real estate in the California Bay Area. I bought a rental property with existing tenant living for 6-7 years. The current tenants has a month-to-month lease and the rent is very low compared to the market rate. My question is would I be able to change the lease term and raise the monthly rent to these tenants? Any suggestions would be appreciated! Thank you!

My first suggestion is that you order "Every Landlord's Legal Guide - California Edition" by NOLO. This book is full of practical advice from application screening to eviction to pets to whatever. More importantly, it addresses the law and tells you how to find these answers for yourself. It's important you learn this, particularly in the most heavily regulated state in our union.

You can read their advice for this situation here: https://www.nolo.com/legal-enc...

It appears you have to give 60 days notice because they've lived there for more than a year. But there may be additional laws depending on what County or City your rental is in.

I tell people all the time: you are better off just getting rid of them, cleaning the property up, and renting it at market rate. Your existing tenants probably can't afford market rates and they will resent you for trying to force them up that high, even if you do it incrementally.