I have met several clients recently from Santa Rosa, to Sebastopol and Monte Rio, even calls from San Francisco who really have no idea of how the eviction process works in places like Sonoma County. San Francisco, Alameda and a few other locations in the Bay Area are different. Rent control and strict local rules controlling landlord-tenant law apply. In the rest of the state. So here's a basic guide to eviction procedures for landlords and tenants.
Notice - There are several kinds of notice depending on circumstances, but notice needs to be legally sufficient. That means that a letter saying "I'm giving you 30 days notice" is not sufficient. It needs to be clear and unambiguous. The most common types of notice:
- Three-day notice to pay rent or quit. Notice the choice: "pay rent" or "quit." Landlords trying to get the rent money need to offer that choice. And here's something to be on the alert for. Partial payment of the rent, even $1, probably satisfies the notice unless it explicitly included nonwaiver language: "acceptance of partial payment does not constitute waiver of the notice."
- 30-day or 60-day notice. In non-rent control counties, landlords can simply decide to have a tenant move on for no stated reason. If the tenant has been there less than a year, a 30-day notice is all that's needed; if more than a year, 60 days are required.
- 90-day notice for tenants in foreclosed, non-owner occupied homes. Under state law, tenants renting homes that have been sold at foreclosure sale are entitled to 60-day notice, regardless of their time in the home. Under the federal Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act, tenants get 90 days or the remaining time on the lease.
- 3-day notice to cure covenants or quit/3-day notice to quit. Finally, if the tenant has broken the rules of the lease agreement, the landlord can either give them three days to address the problem, or if the breach cannot be "cured," simply given them three days to leave.
All of these notice terms can be altered by contract. In the next day or two, I'll look at the defenses that are available when different notices are used.
All of these notice terms can be altered by contract. In the next day or two, I'll look at the defenses that are available when different notices are used.
