Tenants lease is ending but they don't want to leave due to a medical condition!

[Diane Caballa]

My tenant was notified in November 2022 that I would not be renewing their lease which was due to end in March 31, 2023. They just informed me now (March 2, 2023) that one of them is having open heart surgery (pre-planned). They would not be able to move out due to the 8-week recovery period so they earliest they could vacate is end of May 2023. I have already made arrangements for that April timeframe and this delay would incur additional costs.

What rights do I have in this situation?

I want to be understanding but they did have ample notice to move out. They even planned for this procedure which makes me think they were doing it on purpose so that they wouldn't have to move out. 

Thank you all in advance!

[Dan H.]

Quote from @Diane Caballa:

My tenant was notified in November 2022 that I would not be renewing their lease which was due to end in March 31, 2023. They just informed me now (March 2, 2023) that one of them is having open heart surgery (pre-planned). They would not be able to move out due to the 8-week recovery period so they earliest they could vacate is end of May 2023. I have already made arrangements for that April timeframe and this delay would incur additional costs.

What rights do I have in this situation?

I want to be understanding but they did have ample notice to move out. They even planned for this procedure which makes me think they were doing it on purpose so that they wouldn't have to move out. 

Thank you all in advance!

 I recognize that you are posting here to obtain knowledge, but I propose that it is very late.  If you do not know the tenant regulations, you are best served to hire someone to manage your rentals.

You do not state if this is a multi-family (MF) unit (duplex or more units) or a Single Family Residence (SFR).

If the unit is in a unit in a MF property (one property that has multiple units), the statewide rent control regulations apply.  With the statewide rent control, you cannot simply decide to not renew a lease.  There are only a couple legal means to terminate a lease without tenant's consent.  You did not state anything that leads me to believe that you qualify for a no-fault lease termination (which the ordinance refers to No-fault eviction even though it is not an eviction).

If the unit is a SFR (including condos, townhouses, Single Family Homes (SFH)), the state rent control does not apply. You can terminate the lease at lease expiration by providing the proper amount of notice (which you gave sufficient notice).

As has been stated, this is a tenant friendly state and San Diego is a tenant friendly city.  If the tenant does not move out, the eviction process will take a lot of time and can be costly.  

If your unit is not rent controlled, I recommend you immediately give notice to raise the rent at least $1K/month starting 60 days after you provide the notice.  This should convince them to leave.  If they fail to leave at least they will be paying a very large rent payment (or owe it if they fail to pay it resulting in a ding to their credit.

Prior to rent control, I never terminated a lease of a tenant that was paying rent.  If i wanted to convince them to move because they were an undesired tenant, I simply raised their rent to above market rent.  They may have thought I was clueless to what the rent should be for the unit.  They provided me notice that they would be vacating the unit and moving.  It ensures that they have no claim for any reason that I am terminating the rent lease seeing that they are terminating the lease.

Good luck