I am renting my condo in San Diego, California. My tenant does not want to pay rent because of the short sell of my condo. She is in a one year lease that is up November 1st. She is upset with me because I stated that I would have a washer and dryer replaced by December 1st, and I have not been able to provided her with one. Upon trying to have one delivered a month ago, it ended up being back ordered which I cancelled due to me deciding to sell the property. She believes that she is entitled to give me a 60 days noticed to vacate, have her deposit refunded, and not pay the rent for the 60 days. She believes this is fair to cover her laundry bills and having to possible move out early when the property sells. On top of this, she has only paid rent on time once. Her 60 days notice was in an email and I have asked her to provide it to me with her signature. I have not heard from her nor received the signed 60 day notice.

Please provide me what my legal rights are if any.

We need to know where she lives and how long she has been a tenant.

You have failed to replace a washer and dryer for 7 months (!). Stories about why are not relevant. The email will probably hold up in court and it isn't wise to balk on such technicalities.

But she doesn't have the right to withhold rent because of the lack of W/D unless she puts it in escrow with a lawyer and takes you to small claims with her cleaning receipts. Nor can she stop rent because of the sale.

Whether she can break the lease depends on where you live. BUT
You want rent, but don't provide. You want to sell, but expect her to keep paying. You might best avoid court by sitting down with her cleaning bills and negotiating her rent for the next 60 days and letting her go.

Sorry, I see this is in CA. The laws protect tenants very well in cases of foreclosure, but this is a tenant who doesn't want to stay past the sale.

I agree with the guy above, that'll probably how it'll hold up in court anyway, except u'll have to pay a lawyer fee, so I suggest u offer to pay her laundry bills, provided she shows u the reciepts.

Her belief that she might be forced out early when the property sells is completely unfounded. There is federal legislation which spefically protects those such as her, the Protecting Families in Foreclosure Act, I think it's called. There is a sticky note at the top of this sub-forum.

I have offered to pay her $200 a month for her cleaning bills. She has lived there since November of 2010. The property is in San Diego ca.

The property is not in forecloser.

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Originally Posted by kcampbell

The property is not in forecloser.

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Right. I was mistaken. The Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act doesn't apply in the case of a short sale. However the buyer at a short sale would be bound by the terms of the lease anyway.

First no she can not give any notice and has to continue in the lease. The buyer will have to honor the lease.

Next most short sales unless you have the bank preapprove it ( in writing) will take 3 to 6 months after a buyer makes a offer anyway.

Ok, so she moved in and the washer and dryer weren't working and you promised to replace them but haven't. Six months is too long to say you haven't been able to do this. This is a hard one to call. On the one hand you are responsible for replacing the appliances. On the other hand, the lack of the appliances do not create an uninhabitable that would allow her to withhold rent, unless she used the rent to replace the appliances herself After informing you that she was doing so.

So, my advice is to give her a pay or quit notice. Either she pays in full or she has to vacate. If she does neither you file for an eviction. There will be a hearing and she is going claim the lack of a replacement, you counter that you have offered to reimburse her a reasonable amount to cover her laundry costs.

I'm not sure how a court will rule here. My best guess is that they will require her to pay the rent or vacate but give her the opportunity to apply the rent towards replacement appliances.