I am renting out the house in CA and the tenant doesn't pay the rent?

Question

It is Aug.23 now, and he still did not make the payment for August. What should I do now? He says he has no money. How long does the court process take, and can he do anything to prolong his stay? I really need to rent this house as soon as possible to somebody who will pay the rent on time, but the current tenant is not moving out and is not paying as well/ Any advice in this situation would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Answer 1

Sounds like you are going to have to evict him and that means he will be forced out but the house will remain locked up and non rentable until after you two go to court,

Answer 2

You need to look over the lease he signed. In CA you will have to serve a 3 day to pay or quit notice and a 30 days notice to vacate. If he wants to pay a partial payment let him, just immediately serve him another 3 day notice for the unpaid balance. That way he/she is constantly under the gun. If he doesn't pay/move then you will have to file an unlawful detainer. Which cost about $150-200 depending on the County. The tenant will have a chance to tell the court their side of the story and then a trial date will be set.

Once you win (i Hope) the court will set the date for the Lock out, usually done in 3-5 business days. On the lock out date make sure you change the locks as soon as the marshalls/sheriffs allow you to and do not let the tenant back in, or you will have to start all over.

If they leave anything behind you must store it for 30 days. Good luck I know what a pain in the Rear renting out a single family home is.

Answer 3

Eviction is a legal process, and if you mess up, it becomes more difficult to get the deadbeat out. Nolo.com has a book you can use, check your library. You MUST follow the CA procedure precisely, don't take advice from anyone not in CA. State laws differ.

The process starts with a "three-day notice to pay or quit." Here's a start for that process: http://ezinearticles.com/?Preparing-To-E...

Good luck.  

Answer 4

Each state is different..but generally you have to give the tenant a 30 days writ of eviction. Make sure it is mailed and served..either by a bailiff or a friend. Of course the writ of eviction has to be filed through your local civil court. It will cost to get them out, but in the long run it is probably worth it. The tenant can appeal the eviction, but 9 times out of 10 they won't...because they won't have a grounds to stand on.  Whatever you do, don't give them a reason to win their case, like turning off the electricity or water...It would be considered an illegal eviction at that point.

Answer 5

This is a quick overview.

http://www.evictionlaw.com/QuickOverview...

You need to have the tenant served properly with a 3 day notice to pay or quit.

If the tenant does not pay (in full) or vacate within 3 days, you file an Unlawful Detainer (Eviction) action.

If you've never had to evict before, I highly recommend hiring a local attorney that specializes in evictions or a local eviction service. The smallest error in the paperwork could cause your case to be dismissed and you will have to start over..

Answer 6

You could have had him out already if you started on the 2nd.

You have to give him a 3 day notice, then you go down and file your eviction.    5 days after you file you can have the clerk sign the order and the sheriff serve it.   5 days after that the sheriff will literally remove them from your property if they did not go willingly.

Give him 3 day today, file on Wens, have it signed the following monday and have him served.   He should be gone by next Friday, Sept 5.

Yes, there are things he can do to continue to s***w you, but I will not detail those here, no reason to explain to renters how they can leech off of you more.

If you do not want to sue for damages you can sue for the back rent now.    You can only get your rent though, if you ask for it now.   It is better to file again Sept 8, you can get your rent and damages.

You can use a collection agency for 1 year to try to recover your funds, after that you ask the judge to garnish ******* wages.    It takes a awhile, but better late then never.

Answer 7

I work for an apartment complex and we begin the eviction process on the 15th of the month.  It usually takes a few weeks after that for it to go to court.  The most important bit of advice I can offer to you is DO NOT ACCEPT ANYTHING LESS THAN THE FULL AMOUNT OF RENT.  I guarantee you will lose your case if you have accepted portions of rent because the judge understands that as you working with the tenant on a payment plan.  

Write the tenant a note saying that if you do not have the full amount of rent by Friday, August 29, you will file for eviction, and if this tenant has half a brain they will pay because an eviction on someone's credit report will have a disastrous effect on their future renting options.

Answer 8

Most creditors realise that the best approach is to get some money from the debtor rather than try to get rid of them or sue. Remember it will be a big hassle removing them and finding someone new.

1. The normal approach is to send an official looking letter to the tenant even if the rent is one or two days late. I have shared with people and when we get this sort of letter they always panic and get very worried about making payments on time. (I once missed a rental payment due to computer error that stopped the payment, but they sent the letter 5 months later and I had to go in and check all their payment records and mine to find the missing payment...it wasn't my fault, but they should have reminded me).

2. Ok, so in your situation you should sit down with the tenant and come up with a payment plan. maybe they have some problem and don't have the rent. Use persuasion technigue.

1. Tell them problem (I need to get the rent)

2. Tel them the consequences...maybe in a letter (if you don't take steps to correct this problem I will take legal steps to have you removed from this property)

3. Describe the solution (partial payment or maybe they have lost their job....maybe you know someone who can get them a job...or maybe someone cheated them).

4. Tell the benefits.

5. Call for action....get them to do something. Maybe hand over the money they have now (even if it isn't everything).

Answer 9

He is now more than 15 days late and you should begin eviction now.

From what I read in here CA has some laws that favor the tenant so it may take some time.