In article <2356fb0b.0407082243.6338d5ee@posting.google.com>, ML says...
I have a one-year lease for my rental house (in CA) that will expire
at the end of August, and I want to put the house on the market for
sale. The tenants have been good, but with interest rates going up
and the local real estate market starting to cool down, I think it may
be time to sell. I would like to let them stay there until the house
sells instead of making them move out at the end of August if they
want to, since they have said in the past that they want to stay as
long as possible. What is the right way to give them notice? If I
give them notice that their lease is not being renewed, they would
have to move at the end of August. If I want to let them stay until
the house sells, the tenancy will have to turn into a month-to-month
rental, which it does by default after lease expiration anyway, so it
seems there is no point in giving them a notice now. Under CA law,
once they have lived at the house for over 1 year, I have to give them
60 days notice to terminate the tenancy. Should I tell them that I
intend to put the house on the market in September and not actually
give them notice to move until I have a sales contract? That would
mean at least a 60 day escrow to give them time to move out.
If I do decide to just tell them their lease isn't being renewed, do I
have to give 30 days notice?
Thanks for your help!
Mary
Your question is more one of practicality rather than law as you seem to have a
pretty good grasp of the law on this point. (I am assuming that you have
accurately stated applicable law regarding notice.)
Basically, your question is how to keep collecting rent until escrow closes
while not impeding a sale due to the fact the house is encumbered by a lease.
You could put the house on the market and give the tenant his 60-day notice at
the same time. I don't know about CA, but closing in my area takes about 30
days from acceptance of an offer. If it takes a month to find a buyer and a
month to close, then closing would occur about the time the tenant moves out.
Two big drawbacks to this plan is that the house may not sell in 30 days and you
will have to rely on the tenant to cooperate in the sale by keeping the house
presentable.
But if I was in your shoes, I would give the tenant his notice ASAP. Once he is
out, I would clean the house and make any cosmetic repairs that the house needs
before putting it on the market. A tenant has little incentive to assist you in
selling the house he occupies and his presence in the house is going to do
nothing to encourage a sale. I myself have looked at homes that were occupied
by tenants and never wanted to take a second look at any of them. A clean
vacant house is an easier sell than one that is cluttered with a tenant's
possessions. In the short term you will lose a little bit of rent but you
should make it back on a faster sale at a better price.
