California tenant, does not pay rent and ghosting landlord.

[Luis Limon]

I have a problematic tenant that was inherited.

He pays one month's rent every 3 months or so... When I bother him enough. He owes me now about 6 months. In California, our wonderful Gobernador enacted a Pandemic eviction moratorium, where Courts are not evicting people unless they are a danger for the community and if a Judge sides with you to overrule the moratorium. I have gone this way with a junkie on a different property. 

I pay for water, sewer, and garbage.

I was able to get him to sign a new lease agreement for 6months that converted to a month to month on Jan 1, 2021. On the lease, it stipulates Garbage is to be paid for by the tenant. 

My question is what can I do?

This is what I have been thinking, Please let me know if this is correct and any other suggestions.

1. Send all his past dues, not to a collection agency

2. Cancel Garbage (only $36 per month) and at least save that.

3. offer cash for keys. I don't think he will take it... Might be if I offer full 3 months of rent and wipe past dues not paid.

4. Is there any way to get Cares Act money to cover this tenant, without the tenant's cooperation. 

Since He does not respond to my texts, I don't have a good communication channel, other than sending mailers and text messages that don't get answered.

One concern I have is that this is a duplex and the tenant can decide to fill the yard with junk and cause problems for my other tenant. 

[Kyle J.]

@Luis Limon  As it sounds like you're already aware, the Governor signed another new bill (SB91) into law last week that extends the previous tenant protections enacted under AB3088 (the COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act of 2020).  SB91 not only extended some of the previous tenant protections, it also added some new ones.  On a positive note though, it does provide an opportunity for landlords to get direct rental assistance for past due rent.  I actually made a post about this last week in this post the day the Governor signed it.

In any event, I actually went to some training on this new law (SB91) recently since these new laws tend to be very complex and I like to stay educated on them.  So I'll try to answer some of your questions.

1. Regarding sending the tenant's debt to collections = SB91 prohibits the sale or assignment of all COVID-19 rental debt (amounts due between March 2020 and June 2021) until July 1, 2021.  After July 1, 2021 you MIGHT be able to turn it over to a collection agency (it depends on whether the tenant meets certain eligibility criteria).

2. Regarding cancelling of garbage service = I have rentals serviced by multiple different garbage companies and none of them would even allow me to cancel garbage service.  (Would the garbage people be expected to check every address to see if they're paying before they picked up their garbage?)  So I don't even know if that's a realistic option.  But even if you were allowed, I don't think it's a good idea.  Especially given that your property is a duplex.  Do you really want the garbage to not be picked at just one of the sides?

3. Regarding the idea of cash for keys = Might be a good idea in this scenario given our current political/legal climate.  I know there's people who are against the idea of paying a non-paying tenant to leave, and honestly I used to be too.  However, I've come to realize it's just a business decision.  Would you rather pay someone two months rent to move away?  Or allow them to stay in your property rent-free for 6 more months?  If you look at it as a business decision, and not an emotional one, the answer should be clear.

4. Regarding how to get money without the tenant's cooperation = While the exact process for landlords to apply for these funds still has yet to be ironed out, it's not likely that you will be able to do it without the tenant's cooperation.  Eligibility is based on the tenant's circumstances/income level and they will almost certainly have to submit something in the form of proof of income in order for the landlord's application to be processed/approved.

Ultimately, like with most of the other tenant protection laws that have passed since COVID started, this isn't for the casual hobby landlord.  You'll likely need professional legal assistance, as there are a lot of complexities and nuances to this new law. 

You can read more about it here if you're interested: https://caanet.org/ctra/

(Pay special attention to the deadline mentioned of February 28th by which you MUST provide a specific Informational Notice to any tenant who is behind on rent as of February 1st.  If you fail to provide this notice, you will NOT be able to serve any new 15-day notices until you have complied with this requirement.)

In the end, I would suggest following @Chad Hale 's advice and getting an experienced local landlord-tenant attorney to guide you through this process, as it is now more difficult than ever for a landlord to go at it on their own.

Best of luck to you.