Broken Rental Agreement Tennant won't leave

[Amanda F]

Hello I have a somewhat odd situation and I'm hoping someone here can help me understand my rights under the circumstances. I had a friend move into my property (basically to house sit) we agreed on low rent while we paid utilities. She signed a rental agreement then.

While living at the property she allowed her father to move in with her. She then moved out and did not tell us she had left. Her father is still living there and was paying the rent (which we originally thought was for her until we realized she had vacated). We now have family who needs to move into the house (it's a family owned property). We tried to contact her about leaving back in June but she changed her phone number without telling us and left no other contact info.

We had not filed any official eviction notices because she's a family friend and we were trying to keep things civil. Her dad now refuses to move out and says he expects us to pay him if we want him to leave before October 1st. We're going to serve him with an eviction notice tonight but seeing as how the rental agreement was broken and he's technically not suppose to be there do I have any recourse to get him out sooner than the 30 days. I have my own family who is going to be out of a home and they need to move in as soon as possible. What are my rights and does he have any rights considering he's not the original tenant and she moved out without telling anyone? I appreciate your help.

[Jon Holdman]

If you want to be certain about your and his exact rights, you really need to consult a lawyer experienced in landlord/tenant law. Based on what you said, you're going to have to have one to get this guy out, so might as well start looking for one.

Typically, he would have all the same rights as any other tenant. He's been living there and you've been accepting the rent. So, you will have to go through an eviction. I'd forget the "family friend" part of this. Friends don't steal from each other, and that's what this guy is doing.

This may well not happen in 30 days, given you're in CA and CA is pretty tenant friendly. If he fights it, he can really drag things out. If you make any mistakes in the eviction process, you may have to restart the process. Time for a good lawyer.