Cash for Keys and a houseguest turned tenant

[Christopher Olsen]

OK, so here is the backstory. My father passed away unexpectedly in January. He didn't have a will, but my brother and I are the only two heirs and will inherit the house whenever the courts open back up. Our current court date is in July. He had no debts and the house was paid for. We have secured the services of probate attorney. We have petitioned for an independent administration and fully expect to receive one. So much for the easy part. 

Complicating matters is fact that when he died, he had a friend staying with him "for a short while until she gets on her feet." 

I'm sure you see where this is going. 

She does not have a whole lot of interest in moving out any time soon and has indicated this in as many words: "This is my home", "It's my legal residence", "I have nowhere to go" etc. She has been receiving mail there and has put the cable bill in her name, but not the other utilities. 

Our original plan was to give her 30 days notice in April when we had administrative rights to the estate and evict her after that.  But then the court dates got pushed back, and California put a stop to all unlawful detainers until 90 days after the state of emergency is lifted. Apparently, we can serve her notice, but there is no way to enforce it. 

Since she is not paying rent and has no deposit to lose, and has a fully furnished, recently remodeled,  3br 2ba house all to herself, there isn't a lot motivating her to move. I really can't blame her. She has several adult children and siblings who live locally, so I'm willing to call her bluff and say that homelessness is not an issue. 

So it is possible that this could go on for a VERY long time. 

So here is my plan, and I need to know if it is a good one.

1. Right now we tell her in writing that on the date we get administrative rights to the estate, the following things will happen: (around 60 days from now)

• She will get 30 days to move out., 
• She will have to begin paying rent at the market rate for the house, which she cannot afford. 

2. If she moves out on day we officially own the house (about two months from now, she gets a generous cash-for-keys check (negotiated ahead of time, of course). 

3. If she does not move, she will owe us rent equal to the going rate for a house of that size in that neighborhood for the amount of time she stays beyond the July date when we get title to the house. We will also move forward with the eviction process.

So here choice would be simple. She can leave approximately 60-70 days from now with a (for her) decent amount of  money in her pocket, or stay and be evicted, ending up broke and owing us money. 

I have some questions, however.

1. She is currently paying no rent and has no rental agreement. No one has asked her to pay anything. If we go to her and say "Ok, as of such and such date, your rent will be $2000 a month" and she says "No it isn't" and refuses to sign any kind of agreement to that affect, will she still owe the rent after she leaves?

2. Would occupying a house after refusing to sign a rental agreement make her a trespasser and not in need of an unlawful detainer to evict?

3. Another thing we will will inherit is everything in the house - furnishings, appliances, electronics etc. She has a few personal items there, but most everything belonged to my dad.  Is there anything stopping us from holding an estate sale at the earliest opportunity and liquidating the contents in the house that belong to us. If she really wanted to stay there, she would then need to go out and purchase her own furniture and appliances. 

My brother and I have no interest in becoming landlords. We want nothing more than to sell the house and be done with it.