FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

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Question 1: I have a prospective tenant. They have delinquencies on their credit report
                   and I don't want to rent my apartment to them? Do I have to tell them this fact?

      Answer 1: Yes. You should tell them the reason. If they request it, you may          
                       furnish them with a copy of the credit report.

Question 2: I have an elderly tenant in an upstairs unit that is having a hard time holding

                   onto the rails of the staircase. I have sent her several letters regarding this

                   issue but she has failed to respond. She appears to be getting worse and worse

                   as far as her agility. What should I do and do I have any liability?

      Answer 2: No. It is not your responsibility if your tenant is injured at the premises

                       through their own fault. The only time you would be responsible is if you

                       were negligent in maintaining the staircase. Your tenant essentially        

                       assumes the risk of any accident that they have if they fall from the  

                       stairwell.

Question 3: I have a mother and daughter in the same building in different units. The

                   daughter was a nuisance and we evicted her from the building. Now she has

                   moved back into the apartment building with her mother. Is there anything

                   that I can do?

      Answer 3: Assuming that you have a rental agreement with the mother that limits

                       the amount of occupants at the building, then you could serve her with a

                       three day notice to perform covenant or quit notice to move out the

                       daughter. If the daughter does not move out of the building, then you could

                       evict the mother and the daughter from the building.

Question 4: I have a tenant who appears to be suffering from severe dementia.

                   His children want me to put a double bolt  lock on their front door. They are

                   afraid that if they are not at home , that he will be out of the unit and do

                   something crazy. Is this illegal to put on a double lock?

      Answer 4: According to the Department of Building and Safety it is illegal to install    

                     a double lock. They suggested that if necessary that you put on some type of         

                     alarm system that will trigger if the tenant attempts to get out of the       

                     apartment. However, this could be costly and I would advise your tenants

                     that they would be responsible for the cost of putting in the alarm.

Question 5: One of our tenants is an older woman who is very sensitive to cigarette

                    smoke, She rents a unit on the second floor that has a chimney. She

                    complains that she can sense the smoke coming out of her chimney from

                    the first floor tenant who smokes. We put some plastic cover over the

                    opening of the chimney, but the tenant does not like the way it looks and

                    wants us to seal it permanently. What should we do?

      Answer 5: You have no obligation to do anything further. The tenant can move is  

                      she is unhappy.

Question 6: I have a Section 8 HUD tenant with whom I gave a 90 day notice to vacate

                   the premises. Section 8 has since sent me their rent for the next month. Can I

                   keep accepting the housing authority's rental payment even after the

                   expiration of the 90 day notice.?

      Answer 6: Yes. You are allowed to accept the rental payments of HUD even after

                      you have served a three day notice to pay rent or quit or a 90 day notice to

                      vacate. However, you are not allowed to accept the tenant's portion of the

                      rent. If you did you would invalidate the notice.

Question 7: Do I have to attach receipts for repairs on the security deposit accounting that

                    I give to my tenant after they vacate the premises?

       Answer 7: No. The law only requires you to give a reasonable estimate of the repairs

                     that you have done.

Question 8: I have a tenant who has sent me three checks over a nine month period which

                   had insufficient funds. I am sending them a notice of change of terms of

                   tenancy stating that I will only accept cashier's checks or cash for the rent?

                  What happens if they keep sending me personal checks?

      Answer 8: You can return them and request a cashier's check or you can serve your

                     tenant a three day notice to pay rent or quit requesting the rent in the form of

                     a cashier's check or cash only.

Question 9: If I cannot determine how to apply when my tenant pays me, how will I

                     ever collect my late fees when they pay their rent late?

      Answer 9: You have three options. You could serve your tenant notice to perform

                    covenant or quit notice if the late fee is not paid. You also can subtract the

                    late fee from your security deposit or you can take the tenant to small claims.

Question 10: If I sign a lease with a tenant and the first check that they give me bounces,    

                     do I have to let them into the premises?.

      Answer 10: No your contract with the tenant was breached at the inception and you

                    would not need to carry forward with your part of the contract. It would be a

                    different story if you had already given them possession of the premises, and

                    they bounced a rent check. Then, you would have to serve them a three day

                    notice to pay rent or quit to evict them from the premises.

Question 11: If my tenant moves out but does not give me the keys can I take possession?

  Answer 11: It depends on whether or not your tenant really moved out or not. First, I

                    would advise you to post a 24 hour notice at the premises stating that you are

                    going to enter the premises to inspect. Then once you enter the premises try

                    to see if the tenant has left any belongings. If it appears that your tenant has

                    vacated and he hasn't paid rent for 14 days, you could do a notice of

                    abandonment under Civil Code Section 1951.3. If the tenant does not       

                    respond to the letter after 18 days, you can take possession. This notice is

                    best prepared by an attorney. If it appears that the tenant has not abandoned  

                    the unit, then, you would need to proceed with an eviction to recover   

                    possession of the premises.

Question 12: As an owner of a building, can I serve a three day notice to pay rent or quit   

                      on my tenants, or must I have a neutral third party do the serving?

      Answer 12: The law certainly allows an owner to serve his own notice. This, however

                    is not true with respect to the service of the unlawful detainer complaint.

                   This must be served by a neutral party and it is highly recommended that this

                    be done by a registered process server.

Question 13: As a landlord how long do I have to return a security deposit to a tenant

                      after they vacate?

       Answer 13: Under Civil Code Section 1950.5, you have 21 days to return a tenant's

                     security deposit.

Question 14: I read somewhere that if a tenant has lived in the apartment for over two

                     years, you cannot deduct a carpet cleaning charge after the tenant vacates.

                      Is this true?

       Answer 14: No. You can always deduct all cleaning charges including carpet

                     cleaning from a tenant's security deposit.