My elderly widowed mother owns a low income fourplex apartment building in Santa Clara County, California.

My mother would like to extensively remodel the two bedroom, and one bathroom, apartment unit that a father and son reside in.

The father, and his then wife or girlfriend, signed a one-year lease agreement with my mother, and moved in to that apartment unit in August of 2002.

Five years ago, the father suffered a stroke that left him semi-paralyzed down one side of his body. Soon after his stroke, his wife or girlfriend left him, and his son moved in to that apartment. Nothing in writing reflects this change in occupancy.

Because my mother felt sorry for the tenant, she agreed to his request for a significantly lowered rent on a month-to-month lease agreement.

My mother has paid to make accommodations for the father's semi-paralyses like replacing his bathtub / shower stall door with a curtain rod, and had two grab bars installed inside that stall. She also had a wooden railing installed outside his first floor porch.

My mother wants the father and son to leave, as his son suffers from paranoid delusions, which cause him to purchase many unused items, which he hordes throughout the apartment unit.

For a period of four years, the son was hoarding so much property, that there was no room in his bedroom to sleep, or even open the bedroom door all the way. Instead, the son would sleep in his car.

The son will not allow me to install cockroach traps inside his apartment unit, as he believes cockroaches help in eliminating flies.

The tenant's that used to live above this apartment unit on the second floor, where always complaining about cockroach infestations. This is despite the fact that I would frequently give them plenty of cockroach traps, and they always kept their entire apartment clean.

My mother paid a handyman recently to help throw away some of the son's possessions, fortunately with the son's cooperation, so that he could finally sleep in his bedroom.

The father and the son's English comprehension are not good as they are both from Vietnam.

Thus, on Monday, September 13, 2010 I served both tenant's personally to terminate their month-to-month lease as long-term tenants.

To help these two tenants find a place to move to, I printed up a version of the Santa Clara County, California Housing Authority's web site in Vietnamese so they could read that free rental housing might be available to them when they move from this fourplex.

The father seemed very excited to receive that print out from me.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly over the past month and a half, until this weekend, when the father telephoned me, and asked if he could stay past the lease termination date of Sunday, November 13, 2010

As long as he pays his full existing rent for November, my mother is not that concerned about him staying till the end of November, but not one day after November.

The tenant told me he desperately needs to stay until at least Friday, November 19, 2010, as he has a meeting scheduled with a social worker at his existing home address on Thursday, November 18, 2010.

My mother and I are concerned, that if she accepts his regular full rent check for the month of November 2010, and she allows him to stay one day past Sunday, November 13, 2010, I will then have to serve him another 60 day notice to terminate his long-term tenancy, and she would have to wait two more months before she could start eviction proceedings against him.

Please let me know what I can do to make sure both of these tenants leave at the end of November 2010.

Also because the father has been living there since August 2002, and nothing has been changed inside that apartment unit since August of 2002, would this tenant be entitled to his full deposit back based on 8 years worth of normal wear and tear to the carpet, drapes, walls, bathroom fixtures, and appliances throughout the apartment unit.

Unfortunately, because he negotiated lower rent after his stroke, his full deposit now exceeds his monthly rent by 30%.

The father has told me that due to his semi-paralyses, and mentally ill son, it will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for him and his son to clean the apartment. Plus, since I told him that the apartment unit will be extensively remodeled after he leaves, he does not see any reason why he should not get his full deposit back; whether he leaves the apartment is clean or not.

I strongly suspect, that the American's with Disabilities Act would cause a small clams court judge to rule in the tenant's favor, should the tenant sue my mother to get his entire deposit back, in that a judge would award the entire deposit returned, due to the father's physical disability, as well as his son's mental disability.

Also, the father has lived in that same apartment unit continuously for 8 years and caused normal wear and tear on almost everything.

I am relating all of this to you, as I know if the father decides to fight his month to month lease termination, and / or deposit hold back, and if he gets a public interest legal firm to work pro-bono for him, and / or gets the media interested in his story, I know my mother will appear before a judge, and / or the public, as the big bad owner who is trying to evict him and his son just before Thanksgiving.

My mother wishes to avoid public scrutiny, and even a legal battle with these tenants, while still having them leave before, or at the latest, at the end of November.

Thank you very much in advance, for taking the time and effort to answer all of these questions for my mother and me.

I don't think there is anything you can do to guarantee that they will leave by the end of November, and I highly doubt that a first meeting with a social worker is going to result in almost immediate public housing. And if the son is undiagnosed as disabled (or even if he is), you may have a separate issue to deal with. I would not accept rents with the possible exception of escrow in your lawyer's account, and if you really want them out, you should have a lawyer. You may find yourself at odds with everyone for suddenly wanting to extensively renovate one unit out of 4 low income units, and not even for yourselves.
Cockroach extermination does not need permission, just notice. I have never known traps to work and wonder why you don't hire an exterminator.
I don't understand your reasoning for keeping the security deposit, if there is nothing but normal wear and tear, and I have to agree with the tenant about it. And if eviction is going to be necessary (if for instance they are told that they don't have to leave because of age, disability, and no pressing need for the unit), the deposit is the least of your worries.
All in all, aside from CA tenant law which I haven't looked at, I'm just wondering why the sudden need to renovate this apartment. Any contractors available now will be so in the next months too; winter is a slow time and the isn't enough work for renovators as it is.
Your mother has always been accommodating. Is the problem with the son too overwhelming? Why not involve yourself with the public housing process in a helpful way, for the father's sake and for general goodwill? I would work out a date for leaving based on when housing will be available, approach the hoarding mess as a health and fire hazard, get an exterminator, and wait.

My mother wishes to avoid public scrutiny, and even a legal battle with these tenants, while still having them leave before, or at the latest, at the end of November.Hello m:

Your mother has been very good to these tenants. If she wishes to avoid public scrutiny, then she has to be good to these tenants ONE more time... I'm only talking about two more months here at the most. After 10 years, that doesn't sound unreasonable to me.. What's the hurry? I read NOTHING in your post that suggests your mother NEEDS the unit at that time...

Furthermore, you suggest that your mother will be considered the "bad guy", simply because she obeys the law... I don't think so.

Next. The tenants cannot be charged for normal wear and tear. They CAN be charged for cleaning it up, even if it's going to be destroyed by a construction crew shortly thereafter.

Finally, I would wait till this works its way out, as a number of the things you PROJECT, may very well NOT happen.

excon

Yes, if she accepts the rent money then that fairly well ends any 60 day notice, and you have to start again and serve them another notice at the start of the time.

Best opinion is to merely enforce the notice, say no they can not stay, if they do , you have to evict though the courts, nothing says you have to go down the next day, you can wait one or two week to actually go to the court house to file.

After the 60 days notice it can still take 2 weeks, to a month or so to evict someone ( exp handicap)

I would proceed with notice, perhaps have them and you sign an agreement to a new date for the 60 days, ( for one week extra, they don't pay)
Please understand, if they are not already arranged in some other place, they will take weeks, to move out after they find a place most likely.

First, If you decide to allow the extension, put it in writing. Serve them with a letter stating that you agree to an extension of termination date until no later than 11/30. And that in consideration of this extension he will pay the full November rental. Further state that if the unit is not vacated on or by 11/30 that you will file for an eviction order on 12/1.

Second, on the cockroach thing, you should be hiring an exterminator then give the tenant 24 hour notice that the exterminator will be coming.

Third, you have 21 days (by CA law) to return the deposit or an accounting of how it was used. So, once they vacate, you go in with a crew and get bills for the work. You cannot charge for wear and tear, only for cleaning and damages. The fact that the tenant is disabled has nothing to do with the return of the deposit and I don't believe a judge would order the full deposit returned if the expenses are valid. I would hire a crew that does apt cleanups as a specialty so they can advise you what would be chargeable.

I'm going to disagree with Joy and excon on the timing here. Your mother was nice to this tenant reducing the rent. I'm assuming the reduction brought the rental to below market rates. I'm also assuming here that the tenant has not had his rent raised since. Therefore I suspect that she is losing money on this apartment and she needs to get him out ASAP to rent it for market rates. Being a landlord is a business and she should not let sentiment cost her money. The things she did to accommodate his disability would probably have been required by the ADA and may also enhance the value of the unit.

But at this point you need to be firm. Set a deadline and keep to it!

My mother wishes to avoid public scrutiny, and even a legal battle with these tenantsHello Scott:

I normally don't recommend that landlords be wussy. But given the disability of the tenant, and the mothers concern above, I suggested caution over the letter of the law... Were this a landlord who didn't care what the public thought, I wouldn't have made the recommendation I did. I did consider that if this disabled tenant, with his mentally ill son, were to find a sympathetic reporter, they'd get a LOT of public scrutiny.

excon

excon,

I don't disagree, but I think the landlord has more than enough evidence that she has made every accommodation to this tenant. So I don't think she will fare that badly in case of public scrutiny.

Thank you very much to everyone who has taken the time and effort, to offer excellent advice, suggestions, and answers.

I am sorry my first post did not answer all of your questions.

In answer to those questions, the rent when the father and former wife, or girlfriend, moved in was $1,000, per month back in August of 2002.

The father's rent now is $700 per month, and that is well below market rate which is currently usually $1,000 per month for a two bedroom one bathroom apartment unit.

As for exterminators, they have been called out in the past, but not to his unit, because a lot of stuff is hoarded throughout the apartment, thus the exterminator has told me that he is not able to perform an effective job, when the tenant's property is piled up to the ceiling in all rooms of the apartment, including the kitchen.

The son does not keep his father's unit that clean due to his hoarding. The father can not clean up his apartment unit, due to his semi-paralyses.

My mother, nor I, or any other family members have any plans on living in that apartment unit, his unit just needs to be remodeled for a new tenant that can keep that apartment unit clean at a local market rental rate of $1,000.

This fourplex building is from the 1960's, and nothing of significance has been changed inside or outside of it, except for surface flooring and paint, so it is starting to show its age, and thus needs to be remodeled sooner rather than later.

For example, where the tenant's breakfast nook is located, in the corner of the building, it has slowly been sinking in to the dirt since the middle of the 1990's.

The structural engineer that my mother retained, told her he will not do any earthquake resistance retrofit plans for the fourplex crawl space, so long as the slow sinking in that tenant's corner of the building continues.

The other problem is that the laundry / utility / mechanical room needs to be completely remodeled, and that first floor room shares a common wall with the son's bedroom, where a lot of in wall piping has to be replaced.

Finally after his unit vacates, she would like to go from galvanized water supply piping to copper, and from galvanized drain pipes to schedule 40 ABS plastic piping, where the drains pipes are not vertical.

As Fr_Chuck pointed out, even if my mother retains an attorney the tenant could not be evicted immediately after Saturday, November 13, 2010, so the tenant meeting with the social worker could probably still take place on Thursday, November 18, 2010.

My mother has even considered promising the tenant almost his full deposit of $1,000 if he will just leave, and take all of his property with him by November 13, 2010.

My mother is hoping she does have to retain an attorney, she just wants these tenants to go away and to take all of their property with them, as she is just tired of dealing with them.

The son really is the problem. When hoarding becomes a health and or fire hazard you have rights. You can order a tenant, as far as I know from other states, to make the apartment treatable for roaches, and call the Health Dept about it. You could have raised the rent after the son moved in (all the money he has to buy all the things he's hoarding could have gone to rent, right?) I just hope that the exasperation that has built up doesn't lead you to a showdown that doesn't end well for anyone.
I still don't see them being able to move by even the end of Nov. I have never heard of public housing anywhere that didn't have a waiting list.
I still think an attorney should handle any rents in escrow, and the wording of the acceptance of rents, because this could go on for months.
I would ask the father if you can sit in on part of the meeting on the 18th to at least get an idea of timelines and whether the son will be included.

ScottGem, thank you very much for your advice to stick to my deadline of Saturday, November 13, 2010.

Because this tenant and his son have difficulty understanding English over the telephone, I had to drive over to his unit to explain to him that he and his son would be subject to eviction proceedings right after Saturday, November 13, 2010.

The tenant gave me the work address and telephone number for his social worker, as I promised him I would be more than happy to telephone her on Tuesday morning, November 9, 2010, to attempt to reschedule the tenant's meeting with her, before his lease agreement expires on the 13th of November.

The social worker needs to meet with him, as the tenant is obviously handicapped, and she will attempt to set him up with Santa Clara County, California's, In Home Support Services.

I told him that I had not received his $303.33 rent check in the mail as it was due on Thursday, November 4th, 2010, and that now that the four day grace period had passed he would be subject to a $25.00 late fee.

He thanked me for letting him know about Section 8 housing, as he has since placed himself and his son, on a long waiting list for Section 8 housing.

Thank you JOYPULV for letting me know first, that Section 8 housing has a long waiting list.

Because he and his son can not move right away in to Section 8 housing, the tenant explained to me that he needs to save up as much money as possible for the non-section 8 housing that he needs to secure.

So the tenant calmly told me, he will not be paying the $25.00 late fee, nor even the rent for the first half of November 2010 to my mother.

He went on to claim that my mother would not give him his security deposit back no matter how clean he and his son left the apartment unit.

I repeatedly tried to assure him that under California law, the $1,000 security deposit was his money, and that only after an inspection, right after he and his son moved out, would any money possibly be deducted.

I even assured him that if he removed the tremendous amount of property from inside the unit when he and his son will hopefully leave, on or before Saturday, November 13, 2010, he would probably get a good portion of that $1,000 security deposit back.

Please let me know if my mother can deduct, all on her own, without a court judgment, the November 2010 rent of $303.33 plus a $25.00 late fee, from the security deposit, right after the tenant and his son move out.

So I think my mother understands that she has to be nice to this tenant one more time, as EXCON correctly put it, to avoid an eviction process taking place just before the holidays which I would presume might invite unwanted media attention.

I am just praying a lot, that this tenant at least move him and his son out on or before Saturday night, November 13, 2010, and it would be icing on the cake if the son takes his mountains of hoarded property with him.

Thank you very much to JOYPULV, EXCON, Fr_Chuck, and ScottGem for taking the time to give all of your expert advice and solutions on this thorny problem; your help has been greatly appreciated by my mother and me.

No she cannot deduct the rent Immediately. I believe CA law requires that the deposit or an accounting be sent within 21 days of vacating. Any unpaid rental including late fees can be deducted from the deposit as part of that accounting.