hi everyone. I have renters who was family members of a friend renting my home. There is no lease or contract just a verbal agreement that they would pay rent and all utilities including trash sewer water etc. They have be late multiple times on the rent and i receive a call teh other day taht the water and sewer and probably street sweep is gonna be discontinued meaning that they have not been paying for the utilities. This makes it very hard for me to pay the mortgage so i decided to sell the home and have gotten offers already but the tenants refuse to move out and refuse to pay rent. I'm looking into evictions but what are my other options and what is my best option i have a buyer who's ready to buy right now.

Hi Teng,

First off, you're in CA and I know nothing about CA law. BUT, the general rule in most states is that a verbal rental agreement can be ended with proper notice 30 days in advance. I think in CA that if the person has occupied the premises for over a year, it may required 60 days. Double check that to be sure, or perhaps a knowledgeable CA land lord can confirm for us.

However, I don't think ending the rental agreement with notice is your best option. They're already being stubborn by not paying and not leaving, so giving official notice probably won't help. So, I would peruse eviction for non-payment of rent. It's going to be more difficult in some ways since you have nothing more than "he said / she said" for the day you go before the judge. Also, it appears you are not familiar with land lord / tenant laws in your state. So, with those two things in mind, I recommend hiring an attorney to process the eviction. It will cost more, but it will be done correctly. And in this scenario, you don't want the tenant to drag things out. There are attorneys who specialize in evictions. Around here we call them "eviction mills." They charge a one-time flat fee (around $250-$300) to do the entire process from start to finish. They can offer this relatively cheap price because they are in court booting out deadbeats every day of the week and often have 10+ cases going on at a time. It's CA, so you may end up paying more than I do, but shouldn't be much over $500.

Btw, "Cash for keys" that Jim mentioned is just that: you offer the tenant $1000 (or whatever amount you decide) to be moved out in however many days...typically 2 weeks or less. They have to be 100% gone, all their junk removed, and hand you the keys. I also have them sign a document confirming they have returned full possession of the premises to me in exchange for the cash they will received.

Not one penny is paid until I have all three things:

1) Document confirming move-out / return possession.

2) Place is 100% empty.

3) Keys are handed over.

I'm not in California but seriously doubt that text message would work. Your state has the toughest LL tenant law in the country. Even my state, the notice must be served in person. No posting on the door like some less strict states.

I have a friend who's a CA LL. He had to offer $30K to get one of his rental properties in San Francisco back. Very absurd if you ask me.

It seems like you're new to CA eviction process. I would suggest that you talk to an eviction lawyer. It's not a walk in the park eviction someone in CA.

Is your buyer going to live there? If they are buying the property as investment property they may be willing to deal with getting the tenant evicted.

Get your duckies in a row. Start eviction NOW but try the cash for keys while your waiting. Everything to evict can be recaptured when you get your judgment.

You broke 2 rules in LL'ing 101.

rule 2 need signed contract and rule 8 never rent to family or friends.