All Forum Posts by: Amy T.

A year ago we had a situation where one of our tenants took on a roommate who was not added to the lease. When my tenant decided to leave at the end of her lease she gave her 30 days notice and her roommate wanted to stay there and bring in a roommate. We told her they would need to go through the application process. Long story short we discovered a criminal record (check fraud), short work history, and low income. Her potential roommate had bad credit, lots of debt and short work history. It was an absolute no, although I tried to let her down nicely. She was quite upset and started making threats that legally we needed to give her 60 days notice and that she was going to talk to her lawyer. We got her out in time but it was stressful and eye opening in that we had not done our due diligence by vetting her when she moved in as a roommate.

Our new tenant has a new boyfriend that has started spending the night every night. We know this because of security camera footage (that I check fairly regularly because we have a STR in the unit next door). Today she asked if she could change the shower head stating that she is too tall for it. She is not, but her boyfriend probably is. Our lease states that she can't have overnight guests for more than 10 nights in a 6 month period without permission first, and that any added roommates need to be approved by us and/or added to the lease by going through the application process. We don't want an issue like we had before where someone gains rights we didn't grant them. I predict this is someone who we would not approve, which will has the potential to create conflict.

She is first likely to state he isn’t living there, is going to get defensive because it feels like I’m acting like a mom micromanaging her (fair enough) , and she could possibly ask us to approve him.

I’m looking for advice on the best way to approach this without creating a bad relationship with my tenant, but also with protecting our property and our landlord rights.

 Great idea!

CA laws state that keys must be returned to the landlord or the landlord can have the locks re-keyed and deduct the expense from the deposit. This is obviously a safety issue for future renters so that no one has access to their home. But how do we know that copies weren't made and being held on to?
Do you always re-key a property when you turn it over?

@Amit M. thank you so much for your comment! It really is amazing how specific the CA rental climate is, and while I know anybody can give their 2 cents on this forum, only people with experience as a CA landlord can truly understand the weight of my predicament. CA isn’t not normal 😉.

You have some great tidbits and advice that I am taking to heart. Thanks again!

@Aaron Rowzee I like the way you think. If this doesnt get too much messier it is indeed a silver (or gold, not sure platinum 😉 ) lining! And we will be able to get much more for Smokey's unit as well because studio's are far and few between. Rented rooms in shared housing are going for $800-$1200/month and 1 bedroom places $1800+, which means we will be able to increase our studio rent by 25-30% (after putting some money and time into the rehab). 

The landlord/tenant laws in CA are very much in favor of the tenant. Even when the law is on your side I hear of tenants being favored time and time again. The risk here is great, especially in the Bay Area where the investment is $$$$. 

I'm feeling much more peace today. Definitely lessons learned and will be taking advantage of the great advice and resources I've received. A new lease agreement is already in the works for our future tenants. 

*Still not going to engage the troll who doesn't know what he's talking about! 

The silver lining to this whole thing is that I had listed the unit for under market value a month ago and the new tenant was getting a deal (which she acknowledged). I just got done checking craigslist and there is virtually no inventory for comparable places - meaning there are only SFH ($$$) and large apartment buildings available which many people don't want. We will likely be able to get 10-12% more with our next tenants. Fingers crossed.

 Right?!? And I'm still being chastised for being "defensive" and having "attitude" 😂

@Christine C. We verbally said we would let her out of her lease. There was no discussion about security deposit. I agree that she will be getting her security deposit back. She told me via text that she made the decision to move out and 2 days later she moved out. Before moving out there were no demands from her about us being responsible for moving costs, or even about giving her money back for the unused days that she already paid for. There was nothing in writing. I had intended to give her the prorated rent back along with her deposit and believe she is expecting that, but there is nothing spelling that out. I wonder if its too late to use that as leverage to get her to sign something saying by accepting the return of her deposit and the return of her prorated rent that she cannot come after us for anything else. After writing this out I'm thinking it may be time to consult an attorney and if they agree have them write up something binding. 

@Caroline Yu I have communicated with a Caroline Yu on Nextdoor. Wondering if it's the same? Do you have property in Copperopolis?

@Account Closed The new renter surrendered keys and we have possesion of unit as of yesterday. There is no damage. It is essentially move in ready after a quick wipe down. But finding new tenants whiel Smokey is still there will be tricky.

Smokey is still in her unit. We were preparing to start the eviction process but got an email this morning saying she will be out at the end of the month. We will be pretty much gutting and rehabbing the unit the minute she gets out.