I am buying a house from my grandparents in California. Currently my uncle is living in the house, he pays no utilites, property taxes, etc. My grandfather gave him a verbal 30 days to get out. That time is close to being over and he is not making any effort to move or anything. I am not sure what our next step is, since I am helping my grandfather to get him out. I don't see how he can be considered a tenant when he pays nothing and does nothing. Help!

I do some renting here in Canada, but I am not sure if it would be exactly the same in the USA. A verbal ANYTHING is as good as it never even happened. I had to remove a tenant, and unfortunately for the landlord it isn't easy. The law favors the tenant(s). The only thing you can do is give him a written letter stating why the tenant is no longer welcome at the residence.. none payment of rent, not following posted rules.. etc You need to give them I believe a minimum of 14 days to vacate. Although... this is the bad part.. if the tenant gives you a written letter saying they object to your eviction notice.. your eviction notice is then void.. Your next step is to get ahold of a official eviction form.. have it signed down at a court house.. and serve him with that. Unfortunately if does go to court, the tenant can live there rent free until the court date.. which could be months away.

Hope this helps a little. Something's may not be the same in America as they are here in Canada, but I hope this helps. Evicting a tenant can be a VERY frustrating experience for a landlord.
Best of luck

Hello br:

If he gets mail there, he's a tenant, and he need to be evicted according to the law.

We HAVE a copy of it for your perusal at the top of the real estate page on a sticky note.

excon

The tenant (your Uncle) needs to be notified of the intent to evict as follows:

TYPES OF NOTICES
30, 60 or 90-day notice
A landlord who wants to terminate (end) a month-to-month tenancy can do so by properly serving a written 30, 60 or 90-day notice on the tenant. Generally, a 30 or 60 day notice doesn't have to state the landlord's reason for ending the tenancy.

3-day Notices
A landlord can use a written 3-day notice (eviction notice) if the tenant has done any of the following:

Failed to pay the rent.
Violated any provision of the lease or rental agreement.
Materially damaged the rental property ("committed waste").
Substantially interfered with other tenants ("committed a nuisance").
Used the rental property for an unlawful purpose, such as selling illegal drugs.

This is then followed by serving formal eviction papers.

The verbal notice - as said - is meaningless.

Yes, and the person who actually owns the home, Name is on the deed, has to be the one to give him notice, if you are also buying the home on some written contract, I would also have both of you give him official notice ( in writing)
Then if he does not move out, you file for eviction though the courts.

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Originally Posted by bricrys

I don't see how he can be considered a tenant when he pays nothing and does nothing. Help!

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You are correct, he's not considered a tenant. However he IS considered a resident. There are some distinct differences between a resident and a tenant. But when it comes to removing them from the premises, there is none. So you have to follow the formal eviction process. Since no lease exists his residency is considered periodic or month to month. So a 30 day written notice is required. If he still refuses to vacate, you go to court for an eviction order.

I am buying a house from my grandparents, and my uncle is a "resident" of the home, my grandfather gave him a verbal 30 days. He wants to evict him because he is moving slowly, and I am trying to help him because my grandfather is in a convelecent home and can not get around easily. But I am so clueless on how to do anything in this department. Could someone help on how to evict him? And would it be easier once the property is in our name or should we wait?

Hello b:

You can't do anything because you're not the owner.

Your grandfather needs to evict the tenant according to your states landlord tenant law. We have copies of them right here at the top of the real estate page on a sticky note.

excon

First, I merged your two threads. Please do not start a new thread for follow-up, use the Answer This Question options.

As excon noted, until you are the owner, you can't do anything. Your grandfather can, however, give you a limited Power of Attorney to act for you in this manner.

The eviction process varies by location. So its best to check with your local housing court for the exact procedure. But generally, you give a 30 day written notice that you are terminating tenancy. If he has not vacated by then, you file for an eviction order in the local court. There will be a hearing where the order should be granted and a new deadline set to vacate. If he still refuses to leave, you hire a sheriff to physically remove him.

California
What is the next step to evicting someone after their thrity day notice? I know we have to do something with the courts, and have the court order him out, does this process normally take a long time?

We are buying one of my granparents homes, my uncle is currently being evicted out of the home right now. My question is can we enter the home and look at it? Do we need anyone else's permission other that my grnadparents? We just need to get in there just to see what kind of damage there is to the home, see what works, those sort of things.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bricrys

We are buying one of my granparents homes, my uncle is currently being evicted out of the home right now. My question is can we enter the home and look at it? Do we need anyone else's permission other that my grnadparents? We just need to get in there just to see what kind of damage there is to the home, see what works, those sort of things.

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Hello b:

In terms of the law, while your uncle is a resident there, it's HIS home, and you're going to need HIS permission.

If you go in without it, you're guilty of trespassing.

It's going to be your grandparents home again the DAY he's evicted and not before.

excon

Hello again, b:

At the top of the real estate page is a listing of ALL the states landlord/tenant laws. You should become familiar with them, as they are the RULES of the business you have chosen to be in.

Does it take a long time?? If the landlord is efficient, and the courts are too, you can have the tenant out probably within a month.

But, you don't even know what to do, so you're not going to be efficient at all, and it's going to cost you a lot of money.

Bummer.

excon

Hello again, b:

I knew we were long lost friends...

As I look back to our last conversation, I see that you're NOT the owners... Consequently, you're not going to be able to evict your uncle. Your grandparents are going to have to do it.

excon

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bricrys

We are buying one of my granparents homes, my uncle is currently being evicted out of the home right now. My question is can we enter the home and look at it? Do we need anyone else's permission other that my grnadparents? We just need to get in there just to see what kind of damage there is to the home, see what works, those sort of things.

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I disagree a bit with excon's answer to this one. Since the uncle is a resident and not a tenant, you can enter with the grandparents written permission. But you need to inform the uncle about when you will be doing this and you should give at least 24 hour notice.


I've merged your threads yet again. Please do NOT start a new thread to ask a follow-up question. Scroll to the bottom of the page and use the Answer This Question options.

Thank you for the answers. Yes, I am clueless with all of this and trying to figure out what to do. My grandparents are in a home right now (right minds, bodies giving out) and since they are there I have been doing all the leg work for them. As for the California tenant laws, I tried to click on it in your sticky post and the link was no longer good for California, so I just keep searching the web reading as much as I can about it, different websites tell you different things so it is quite confusing. But I have just one more question, would it be easier and faster to kick him out if we transferred the property into my name? Would change of ownership make him have to move faster?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bricrys

would it be easier and faster to kick him out if we transfered the property into my name? Would change of ownership make him have to move faster?

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Hello again, b:

No, he's apparently going to need some prompting to get out. All the transfer will do is put YOU in charge of evicting him. From what I gather, that would be a good thing.

excon

Actually, since you have started the eviction process, then it would delay matters because you would have to start from scratch after the change in ownersihip.

What you can do is have your grandparents give you a limited power of attorney to deal with any issues in regard to the property. You can find POA forms on the WEB. Modify one to refer to property listing its LEGAL designation (like Section, lot, Block, etc.) as well as the postal address.

Yes your answer helped thank you very much. We are hoping he will just get out now, but who knows with drug addicts, the only time he does anything is when he's high.

I have just one more quick question, that goes along with all of this. My Uncle has been properly served and everything is going like it should but he has now begun to steal items from the property and is selling them. We are calling the sheriff, but I thought I read about a 3 day eviction if they are doing damage to the property or something illegal. So the question is would the stealing be enough to get a 3 day or do we just have to continue with the 60 day?

Hello again, B:

Nope, it won't help get him out any sooner because you can't prove he's stealing anything... I would call the cops though.

But, what is this 60 day thing??

Frankly, I think you need a lawyer to do this for you. California is tenant friendly, but I can't believe they require 60 days to evict... Nope, I don't believe it.

excon

Hello again,

Here's the deal. You need to do some addition... Add up how much it's going to cost you to let him stay and steal from you, for however long this thing is going to take, and then add up how much you can be sued for if you illegally evict him.

I think you'll be dollars ahead if you MOVE him out, and change the locks - TODAY.

excon

The first thing you do is make a complete inventory of everything in the house. Take a tour of the house with a video camera and do a narrative of everything. Also make sure everything is tagged with an identifying mark.

Tell him is anything else turns up missing you will have him arrested for theft. You might also think of moving valuables out of the house or into a storage locker.

The following are valid reasons for a 3-day notice:

3-day Notices

A landlord can use a written 3-day notice (eviction notice) if the tenant has done any of the following:

• Failed to pay the rent.
• Violated any provision of the lease or rental agreement.
• Materially damaged the rental property ("committed waste").
• Substantially interfered with other tenants ("committed a nuisance").
• Used the rental property for an unlawful purpose, such as selling illegal drugs

It would look like the 3rd point would help you, but you would probably need proof of the damage, which is where the video tape comes in.

Thanks for the answers, yes California requires a 60 day notice if they have lived there over a year. We are going through an evictions specialist, but he is kind of weird about just answering questions. He told me to get a police report and then we will see. As of proof, we already have it in a way because one the things he stole and sold was a paddle boat and we found out who bought it. So there is our witness.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bricrys

Thanks for the answers, yes California requires a 60 day notice if they have lived there over a year. We are going through an evictions specialist

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Hello again, b:

Nope! I'd fire your eviction specialist. That's what WE are...

You're not evicting him because he didn't adhere to your notice. You're evicting him because he violated the lease. Therefore, you go to court TODAY and file your illegal detainer lawsuit. Hire a sheriff to serve him TODAY. You should have a hearing in a week or so, and he'll be given maybe another week to vacate. If he doesn't, you bring the sheriff to put him and his crap to the curb.

excon

Excon is right, if you have prrof he sold something that didn't belong to him, you file a police report, then file for the illegal detainer to get him out now.