Garage Conversion into ADU... tenants' stuff in my garage

Garage Conversion into ADU... tenants' stuff in my garage

Rental Property Investor · San Diego, CA · Member since 2020 · 44 posts · 33 votes

I am planning to start construction on my garage ADU next month (already pushed back many times due to Covid, getting permit issued, among other things). I have told my tenants that I was planning on converting the garage since February, and kept on updating them over the last few months that yes the conversion is indeed happening, this is the date to expect it to start etc.

Due to their own personal circumstances, they brought an elderly parent over to the rental unit, along with a bunch of stuff that they are storing in one of my garages (that I will be converting). All of their stuff takes up almost the entire 10x20 (single car garage). I am trying to work with them to find the best solution. The best I can do is having a custom shed installed (something about 6'x12'x6') out in the front yard (is this even being too generous? This is another cost of about 3k out of pocket to accomodate these tenants). However, the shed guy won't be able to start until the same day as the start date of the garage conversion. Another thing to note is there is no mention of using the garage in their lease (I inherited these tenants and they had already been using the garage with the previous owner, and when they renewed with me, my lease didn't state anything about using a garage).


What I can do (but don't want to do) is to delay my project AGAIN by having my construction guys come by a week later after the shed is built, to give the tenants time to move their stuff (will the shed fit all of their stuff? I don't know). I have let them know a few days ago with the hard dates, explicitly stating that both garages need to be empty by November 4 because construction can't start until everything is out. 

My question is.. what if they drag their feet and don't actually get all their junk out by the start of construction? Of course I will keep on reminding them weekly to get them moving. But is this something that I need to start consulting with an attorney about ? (worst case scenario, they don't move their junk).

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Nathan GesnerBusiness Member
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Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes
4y
Originally posted by @Cathy S.:

My question is.. what if they drag their feet and don't actually get all their junk out by the start of construction? Of course I will keep on reminding them weekly to get them moving. But is this something that I need to start consulting with an attorney about ? (worst case scenario, they don't move their junk).

 Cathy, you have got to take charge of your rental. You keep reminding them and they clearly aren't making much effort to assist. You've already given them free storage for the last year and now you want to spend thousands to purchase them a shed???

Give them written notice that their stuff must be removed by midnight on [DATE]. Anything left in the unit after that will be considered abandoned and disposed of as you see fit. It's their responsibility to find a storage unit, sell the stuff, burn it, or cram it into closets.

It's really that simple. Stop letting them walk all over you and get 'er done!

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  • Nathan GesnerBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes
    4y
    Originally posted by @Cathy S.:

    My question is.. what if they drag their feet and don't actually get all their junk out by the start of construction? Of course I will keep on reminding them weekly to get them moving. But is this something that I need to start consulting with an attorney about ? (worst case scenario, they don't move their junk).

     Cathy, you have got to take charge of your rental. You keep reminding them and they clearly aren't making much effort to assist. You've already given them free storage for the last year and now you want to spend thousands to purchase them a shed???

    Give them written notice that their stuff must be removed by midnight on [DATE]. Anything left in the unit after that will be considered abandoned and disposed of as you see fit. It's their responsibility to find a storage unit, sell the stuff, burn it, or cram it into closets.

    It's really that simple. Stop letting them walk all over you and get 'er done!

    The DIY Landlord Book4.7248 Reviews
  • JD MartinBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Rock Star Extraordinaire · Northeast, TN · Member since 2015 · 10k+ posts · 16k+ votes
    4y
    Originally posted by @Cathy S.:

    I am planning to start construction on my garage ADU next month (already pushed back many times due to Covid, getting permit issued, among other things). I have told my tenants that I was planning on converting the garage since February, and kept on updating them over the last few months that yes the conversion is indeed happening, this is the date to expect it to start etc.

    Due to their own personal circumstances, they brought an elderly parent over to the rental unit, along with a bunch of stuff that they are storing in one of my garages (that I will be converting). All of their stuff takes up almost the entire 10x20 (single car garage). I am trying to work with them to find the best solution. The best I can do is having a custom shed installed (something about 6'x12'x6') out in the front yard (is this even being too generous? This is another cost of about 3k out of pocket to accomodate these tenants). However, the shed guy won't be able to start until the same day as the start date of the garage conversion. Another thing to note is there is no mention of using the garage in their lease (I inherited these tenants and they had already been using the garage with the previous owner, and when they renewed with me, my lease didn't state anything about using a garage).


    What I can do (but don't want to do) is to delay my project AGAIN by having my construction guys come by a week later after the shed is built, to give the tenants time to move their stuff (will the shed fit all of their stuff? I don't know). I have let them know a few days ago with the hard dates, explicitly stating that both garages need to be empty by November 4 because construction can't start until everything is out. 

    My question is.. what if they drag their feet and don't actually get all their junk out by the start of construction? Of course I will keep on reminding them weekly to get them moving. But is this something that I need to start consulting with an attorney about ? (worst case scenario, they don't move their junk).

     I think you're going to need a new signed lease that specifies the garage is not part of the rental, or you need to get new tenants. You inherited them, there was a garage on-site, the previous owner let them use the garage (whether through apathy, agreement, or negligence), and they have continuously used the garage since you inherited them. They are going to have an excellent case in court that the garage was always included in the rental property just based on the history of its use. The fact of omission isn't going to help you here, because you aren't going to be able to demonstrate that it was never part of the rental nor never intended to be part of the rental. The fact that you now want to use it as another dwelling unit is immaterial.

    If your lease with them is expired, I would get them to sign a new lease, excluding the garage, that the garage must be emptied by X date, and then start your construction. If your lease is not expired, I would wait until your lease is expired or see if you can entice them with the shed or something else. 

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  • Rental Property Investor · San Diego, CA · Member since 2020 · 44 posts · 33 votes
    4y

    I just consulted a lawyer and unfortunately he said there’s not much I can do besides offering them a cash incentive or something like that. The lawyer said touching their stuff might result in a lawsuit


    What I can do is: 1. Delay construction start date by a week giving them 7 days to move their stuff into the shed 2. Some sum of money if needed for additional self storage. Eg construction is 3 months, I give them 3 months’ worth of self storage costs

  • Rental Property Investor · San Diego, CA · Member since 2020 · 44 posts · 33 votes
    4y

    It’s unfortunate that it’s CA (tenant friendly state) and these people are can do whatever they want but I can’t think of anything better than what I mentioned above

  • Rental Property Investor · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2017 · 2k+ posts · 5k+ votes
    4y

    The garage doesn't necessarily have to be in the lease to make it part of the lease. They were using it before, you allowed them to use it, they can easily argue that it is included. 

    You can try and bluff them by letting them know that you need to start charging for use of the garage. The monthly rent will be equal to what you would have received if renting it out as an ADU.

    If they screw you over on this, at EVERY lease renewal, rent goes up max allowed by law and garage is explicitly excluded. 

  • Rental Property Investor · San Diego, CA · Member since 2020 · 44 posts · 33 votes
    4y

    @Greg M. Interesting approach! Yeah I am honestly doing my best to accommodate them and not screw them over. I think offering them a free shed with 72 square feet is already generous. But I like that bluff, not sure how that would work from a legal standpoint but ugh yes if they do screw me over I'll make sure they don't renew when their lease is up.

  • Etna Green, IN · Member since 2015 · 207 posts · 157 votes
    4y

    @Cathy Song if i was renting your house and it was not stated otherwise i would assume garage was included in lease and would be irritated if I was forced to move things after an extensive period of time.

    Least you can do is put another shed on property as mentioned. You may offer to move their things into a storage unit until shed is brought in.

  • Rental Property Investor · San Diego, CA · Member since 2020 · 44 posts · 33 votes
    4y

    @Waylon Zook There's not exactly room in the front yard for an additional shed, and it would be pretty unreasonable to expect a shed the size of a 10'x20' single car garage. The unplanned thing was that they moved their elderly parent in 1 month ago, along with a TON of stuff. 

    Well I am waiting for the shed to be installed first, and then wait a week or so for the actual garage construction to start, to give them time to move their stuff. I don't think I'm legally allowed to touch their stuff. 

    Also I had literally been telling them I was planning on converting the garage since FEBRUARY, and they waited until the last possible minute to procrastinate and then bring another half garage's worth of STUFF. 

    BTW, they haven't even paid rent for this month, and I'm the one going out of my way to accommodate them...

  • Member since 2020 · 2 posts · 0 votes
    4y

    @Cathy Song is the garage I used with their rent ?

    Maybe they could get one of those pods . Just an idea

  • Rental Property Investor · San Diego, CA · Member since 2020 · 44 posts · 33 votes
    4y

    @Michelle Lea Brown The lease doesn't specifically say anything about using a garage. However, they are inherited tenants and they had been using their 1 car garage since before I bought the property. Yeah that could be an idea. Either way, I am providing a solution (shed), but they need to figure out what to do with excess items if the items can't all fit in the shed.

  • Rental Property Investor · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2017 · 2k+ posts · 5k+ votes
    4y

    I'd hold off on the conversion until the garage was explicitly not theirs to use or they were gone. They could sue you. They have a lease and probably have a legal right to the garage. If you take it away you could be liable to them. 

    You have an attorney. Consult them before moving forward. 

  • Rental Property Investor · San Diego, CA · Member since 2020 · 44 posts · 33 votes
    4y

    @Greg M. yeah totally, I am proceeding with caution and won't do anything until I get the proper advice from my attorney. Honestly it's pretty ridiculous that this is something that I need to do. I've given them 8 months' notice, am spending 3k on a shed for them, they don't pay rent and expect the city to pay me rent (trying to tap into 6 months' of covid rental assistance funds), yet they can still just do absolutely nothing and have all the rights in the world.

  • Etna Green, IN · Member since 2015 · 207 posts · 157 votes
    4y

    @Cathy Song im not an attorney but i would guess you are SOL if the garage was not excluded in the lease. Is the garage typically excluded in your area?

  • Rental Property Investor · San Diego, CA · Member since 2020 · 44 posts · 33 votes
    4y

    @Waylon Zook Not sure what you mean by SOL? I don't know if garages are typically included/excluded in this area (San Diego). I think it just depends on the individual landlord. Anyway I have reviewed my lease and there is a specific paragraph related to parking. It is not filled out, just blank. If it is not clearly stated that they are indeed assigned a parking spot, I don't know if they technically have access to it. Anyway, this is a question for an actual tenant/landlord attorney.

    11. PARKING. Tenant is assigned ______________________ as their parking space(s). If Tenant is
    assigned a parking space(s) by Landlord, Tenant shall use such space(s) only for the parking of operable, licensed
    and currently registered passenger automobiles and motorcycles. At no time shall the Tenant wash, paint, or
    repair any vehicle parked in the space(s) assigned by the Landlord. Tenant and Tenant’s guests shall not park
    anywhere on Landlord’s property except the space(s) assigned to Tenant. Any vehicle of Tenant or Tenant’s
    guests that park on any Landlord property and not in the assigned space(s) will be towed at Tenant’s expense and
    with no warning. Tenant may not assign or sublet the parking space(s) assigned by Landlord, except with
    Landlord’s written permission. No items shall be stored in or around Tenant’s assigned parking space(s) and any
    such items shall be disposed of by Landlord and with no warning.

  • Member since 2020 · 2 posts · 0 votes
    4y

    That sounds more than fair . Good luck hopefully they can be cooperative .

  • Etna Green, IN · Member since 2015 · 207 posts · 157 votes
    4y

    @Cathy Song I would guess a judge will side with tenant since they have had access to the garage (especially in Cali) for the extended period of time.

    How long until lease expires?

  • Rental Property Investor · San Diego, CA · Member since 2020 · 44 posts · 33 votes
    4y

    @Waylon Zook Yeah I have no idea which way this will swing since I don't know the legal specifics of this situation. Their lease still has a while to expire, May 2022.

  • Joe SplitrockPro Member
    Moderator
    Rental Property Investor · Sioux Falls, SD · Member since 2015 · 9k+ posts · 18k+ votes
    4y

    If you are leasing a house with garage, any reasonable person would assume the garage is included in the lease. I would expect it to be specifically excluded if they were not supposed to use it. In that case they would not have keys to the garage. Clearly it was included originally, so I would rewrite the lease to exclude it. I would just make that a condition of them being able to continue living there. This should have been done months ago. At this point you are probably looking at delays to construction unless you give them financial incentive. You could offer to pay for a few months at a storage unit or give them a discount on rent to supplement them loosing the garage. 

  • Rental Property Investor · San Diego, CA · Member since 2020 · 44 posts · 33 votes
    4y

    @Joe Splitrock Yeah makes sense. 

    Well the layout is a bit funky. It's a duplex - they live in the front house (detached), and I live in the other building on top of the garages. It's not a single family with a garage situation.

    Well, the lease they renewed with me does not say that they have a designated parking spot in the garage. The previous lease they had with the previous owner does not say anything about a garage either. Anyway the remaining question that I have now is - if the lease does not state the EXCLUSION of the garage, but only OMITS it, does that mean they get to use the garage or not?

    Yeah I can potentially incentivize them and give them X sum of money off rent or 3 months' storage unit costs after they move their stuff out possibly.. but why is this my job? They had 8 months to plan for something imminent. When we were renewing the lease (changing from older owner to me), they could have used this as negotiating power to drive down the lease but they didn't. I also didn't have the foresight to exclude the garage in the contract since I thought they would be normal and reasonable people who would cooperate. 

  • Dan H.Pro Member
    Investor · Poway, CA · Member since 2015 · 7k+ posts · 8k+ votes
    4y

    I see a lot of responses but they are not from CA and likely not cognizant of the local laws. 

    You have a lot of issues.  Duplexes are typically covered by the state wide rent control law.  I believe you are in luck as I believe there is a exclusion for owner occupied duplex.  Verify this as otherwise you cannot ever substantially change the lease terms without their consent. This would imply the tenants could keep the garage as long as they desire (or until you can terminate occupancy through one of the legal options)  

    Assuming that your duplex is exempt from the state wide rent control, the tenants have the right to the garage through the end of their lease (May 2022).  2 months prior to the lease being up, provide notice that the garage will not be included at the end of the current lease.  

    If you want the tenants to give up the garage prior to the end of the lease, you will need to do cash for keys/garage.  I am against cash for keys for poor behavior, but that is not the case here.  Your tenants are giving up something that they legally are entitled to.  Cash for the garage is appropriate.  One car garages in escondido go for ~$100/month.  I do not know where you unit is located, but $100/month for 7 months would be more than fair especially if you were providing a shed. 

    Now for the shed in the front yard…. In many places in San Diego sheds are not allowed in the front yard.  I recommend verifying that a shed is allowed in the front yard prior to placing it there.  

    Good luck

  • Developer · San Diego, CA · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    4y

    @Cathy S. Dan gave you spot on advice and basically stole everything I was going to say.  Haha.

    In 90% of situations I've encountered where a tenant is using some space (whether entitled to or not), and it's understood they need to move their stuff, it doesn't happen until the day before or the day of the actual work.  I have literally shown up with 7 guys to grade a backyard for construction and spent the first 2 hours of work moving the tenants stuff since they didn't actually believe me when I told them we were coming.  Until a date is set and you have leverage to make it happen, don't expect the stuff to move.

    You need to get that leverage, and that's going to come with either your next lease agreement or a separate agreement because you incentivized them.

    Personally, I'd just tell them what's going on, offer to pay for a year of storage (instead of buying a storage shed), and try to get them to vacate the garage.  If they don't, change lease terms at renewal.  You are owner occupied, so you've got more options.  But, you should have cleaned this up earlier this year so you'd be ready.

    As a sidebar, I would highly encourage anyone planning to do a construction (such as a garage conversion for ADU) to switch to a month-to-month lease with existing tenants leading up to construction. It gives leverage to make sure you can get your project done, which is what the focus should be on.

  • Rental Property Investor · San Diego, CA · Member since 2020 · 44 posts · 33 votes
    4y

    Yeah well I really didn’t foresee them acquiring so much JUNK within the last 2 months. Also didn’t have the foresight to specify clearing out the garage in the lease renewal.

    The lease doesn’t say that they are assigned a parking spot in the garage, so I don’t know if they are actually entitled to it due to history or whatever. Yeah I guess cash for garage could work, like provide them with cash after they move their stuff out. If that’s the only option then I will take it, but I am waiting to hear back from a landlord/tenant attorney to see what other options there are based on the specific wording in my lease.

  • Rental Property Investor · San Diego, CA · Member since 2020 · 44 posts · 33 votes
    4y

    @Dan H. I tried searching online to find the code that says sheds can’t be in the front yard but can’t find it. Do you have a link? This shed will be 72 sq ft (small) so a permit will not be needed. From my understanding the shed just has to be within your property lines and have a specific setback if it’s over 1000 sq ft or something like that.

  • Dan H.Pro Member
    Investor · Poway, CA · Member since 2015 · 7k+ posts · 8k+ votes
    4y
    Originally posted by @Cathy S.:

    @Dan H. I tried searching online to find the code that says sheds can’t be in the front yard but can’t find it. Do you have a link? This shed will be 72 sq ft (small) so a permit will not be needed. From my understanding the shed just has to be within your property lines and have a specific setback if it’s over 1000 sq ft or something like that.

    >Do you have a link?

    You would need to check the rules for the jurisdiction where the property is.  Jurisdictions can have strange rules.  I got notice at a property that the firewood pile was too large.  Who would think that there would be a rule on the size of the firewood pile?   

    No shed in front yard is a slightly common rule, but it is not everywhere.  You could be fine, but I recommend verifying first.   

    >The lease doesn’t say that they are assigned a parking spot in the garage, so I don’t know if they are actually entitled to it due to history or whatever. Yeah I guess cash for garage could work, like provide them with cash after they move their stuff out. If that’s the only option then I will take it, but I am waiting to hear back from a landlord/tenant attorney to see what other options there are based on the specific wording in my lease

    In the absence of the lease not indicating they can use the garage, and both previous owner and you letting them use the garage (and no way to prove anything previous owner communicated), the tenant now has the right to use the garage.  It was likely always the intent anyways, but even if it was not the original intent and the garage use was only to be temporary, you have no way to prove it.  

    Work out cash for garage with tenant or wait until May 2022 (assuming owner occupied excepts you from state wide rent control which I believe it does for a duplex). The ADU will exempt you for a while from rent control due to it being a new unit as long as you owner occupy (because the OO currently excludes it as a duplex (assuming I am correct on that part - that part is irrelevant to me because I do not OO a duplex)).

    Good luck

  • Bruce WoodruffPro Member
    Contractor/Investor/Consultant · San Diego / Phoenix · Member since 2021 · 12k+ posts · 15k+ votes
    4y

    @Cathy S. IMHO you are being way too kind to these people. Maybe they have some right (?) to use of the garage, but without that being stated specifically in the lease, you may have some chance in court. But you're chosen to do business in Cali so maybe not.

    Whatever you do, don't build them anything for storage. They need to take care of their own storage issues. Worst case is you have to pay them to get their crap out of your property I guess.

    But stop being so nice, or do you actually enjoy being taken advantage of?

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