Tenant not paying rent gone AWOL

[Nolan Peralta]

Hi all,
Current House Hacker in California. I have a tenant renting a room who has always paid his rent for the past two years. He recently went on a family trip and has not been at the house for the past month. He has not paid October's rent and I have not heard from him since Mid October. When we last spoke he mentioned he had covid and his phone has been shut off, but he was planning to be at the house the next weekend with rent and all the late fees ready to go. I have not been able to get ahold of him in the past few weeks and he has made no effort to reach out to me with a plan to pay his past due rent. Now that October is coming to a close, he is set to be 2 months behind in rent. I sent him a text and email letting him know that if I do not hear from him by 10/31 that I would issue a 3 day notice to pay or vacate. Since I have not been able to get ahold of him, and he has not been at the house In the past month, how would you suggest that I proceed? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[Chris Grenzig]

@Nolan Peralta I don't know California law, but I highly recommend finding a landlord/eviction attorney immediately and engaging them, and asking them the next steps to take. We always use one in Florida, and taking the correct actions now is cheaper and faster than anything else. 

You don't want to serve a notice incorrectly and then go to court for eviction only to find out you did something wrong and now the whole process has to start over again. 

Landlording is a business, you have a contract and they are not upholding there end of the contract. Treat it as such.