Can I end a lease on a month to month tenant?

[Marti M.]

I rented out my former personal home in Ventura when I moved out of the area. The tenants have been there 4 years on a month to month lease with no rent increase.

I would like to end the lease and begin to use the home myself as a second home rather than a primary residence.

I am thinking about giving them an informal written notice that I will be ending the lease with a 60 day notice when the moratorium is over. Is this a good idea? I would like to give them a head's up.

I am not sure if the moratorium will be extended and if it is, I would like to end the lease anyway. The current moratorium in CA ends Sept. 30th.

I'm not sure I would be allowed to proceed with an eviction if necessary. It is my understanding that under the moratorium, you can evict for owner-occupy. I am not sure if owner occasional use would fit? That is why I think I might have to wait until the moratorium is over, and then I don't have to provide a reason to end the lease.

Also, if you do state owner-occupy, does anyone know how long you have to occupy before you could rent it out again?

My goal is to get the place back, do some remodeling, then decide if I want to use it, sell it, or possibly rent it out again. It is frustrating that I can't just get the place back without worrying about all the moratoriums.

Any help anyone can provide is greatly appreciated.

[Dustin Allen]

@Marti M.

The moratorium is an eviction moratorium not a notice moratorium. Give the notice (minimum 60 days since they have lived there for over a year) and see how they respond. If they say they won’t leave, let them know that eventually they will get evicted and that will wreck their credit and their ability to rent or buy in the future. If they have trouble leaving, try to help them get on their way if you can.