We are renters, landlord is selling house out of the blue. What are our rights? We live in Ca.?

Question

We moved into our house a little over a year ago, our landlord says she is selling our house. This is fine, but the questions I have are we obligated to let her show the house for future buyer while we are still living here? What if we are not home ? Can we say we dont want anyone showing the house while we are not home?( we have a baby, and indoor dogs this is just all a pain) Last do we have to give a 30 day notice if we find a place? We are NOT on a lease, we are month to month. Will not giving a 30 day notice not allow us to get back our deposit?

Answer 1

You are responsible for 30 days notice. If you just move with out it, it will come out of your deposit and if he deems the home not in acceptable shape, he can then come after you in small claims for the damages or cleaning on top of that.

But dont get too excited yet........

Your house may not even sell, it's not a guarantee in this market right now. (Im in Ca too & a Landlord) Some houses are not even being shown once in 3 weeks of being listed depending on where you may be.

If you read your contract it will likely have verbage that says
"you will not restrict access for repairs or to show the house to prospective tenants or buyers"

Here's how it will work.

You call you landlord and explain that this comes at a very inconvenient time for you with a small baby and such. But that your understand & are happy to cooperate with him but that you would like him to make sure his listing with his realtor states that the home is occupied by a tenant that will need atleast 24 hours notice so someone can be home. Ask him to please, out of respect for my privacy, not show the house without my being or having someone home. I would do this in writing. Offer to make the place available on 1 Sat or Sun a month for 4 hours.

Has he offered first rights to you guys? Do you want to buy the place or are in the position to right now.

Next. Even if the place does sell, the new owners have to give you 30 days notice if they intend to move in or change the rent amounts. And they can't legally do that until they have ownership of the home. So not until the deal closes.

If you have been there more than a year you legally are entitled to 60 days notice of the rent increase or notice to vacate.

It's probably a bit too late to ask for a lease at this point but that would have been nice as the new landlords would have to honor it. Your landlord wont be willing to negotiate one at this point as it could make his property less attractive to an investor or someone buying to move into.

I am providing a direct link to the California Landlord Tenants rights handbook available from the state directly.

http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/landlordbook/catenant.pdf

Good Luck

Answer 2

Unfortunately the owner has the right to sell the home so long as he follows your lease properly, which it sounds like he's doing by waiting till the lease is over. That's the hazard of renting....the owner can sell or refuse to renew the contract once the lease is up. I wouldn't assume that you can't get a loan. You should start first with your bank and then contact other legitimate loan agencies to see if you qualify (try to stay away from online agencies). There are stricter guidelines in place now for getting a mortgage though, so you're right that you will most likely run into some problems due to your credit situation. But it may not be impossible -- it just may take some serious leg work on your part. As for the real estate agent's comments on the owner needing money -- if I were you, I'd contact the landlord directly and see if he's willing to work out a deal.

Answer 3

Although the rules vary by state, this is how it works here:

As a tenant, RE agents are required to give you 24 hours notice that the home is to be shown. They can either call you or post a notice on the home. Are the dogs friendly? Post a sign on the door as people will enter not to let the dogs out. If they are not friendly, it is probably best to put the dogs in a crate on days the house is going to be shown. You can ask that the home be shown only when you are there to take care of the dogs. And if you want it that way, post a sign on the door saying do not enter, dogs loose in house and that should steer agents to call you first.

Since you are not on a lease, you do not have tenant rights in place. If you had a lease to say the end of January, you would have the right to stay in the home until then. Your landlord should give you the deposit back. She would have to expect you to be looking for a new place since yours is being sold. Unless you want to stay there, have the listing agent put in the listing that tenant is willing to stay on.

Answer 4

No lease, that's the problem. Did you have a lease for the first year? Sometimes there are carryover clauses. The landlord must ask that the house be shown in advance and a 30 day notice by either of you is required to terminate. I would start looking ASAP.

Answer 5

If you're month to month, then they can give you 30 days notice to vacate, or you can give them 30 days notice that you are leaving. If you don't give them the 30 days, you'd probably lose your deposit.

They can almost surely show the house while you are living there as long as they give you notice, probably 24 or 48 hours. And no, you can't restrict it to when you are home. But if the dogs are a possible danger, be sure to warn them, and also warn them to be careful not to let them out.

Answer 6

Month to month means 30 days from either side .
You not giving 30 days , will leave you legally obligated for that 30 days which usually eats up any deposit ( unless you posted 1st and last month at the time of the contract )

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Answer 7

state and possibly city laws apply, avoid lawyers, who will try to get as much of your money as possible, just like your landlord

learn the laws and make sure your landlord knows you know them without showing your anger to him. he may have some flexibility if you give some.


go to california state website


you may have a while before you are forced to move; the main thing is start spending as much time as you can looking for a new place and give notice when you find it, moving is always a pain but worrying about your current place is no fun either

typically there is a legal clause for reasonable entry for potential new renters or owners to view...and for you to keep the place reasonably tidy... try to think from his perspective also, he owns the house and has decided he can do better selling than renting. let this be incentive for you to start saving for a downpayment on your own place.

Answer 8

I can't imagine how anyone with dogs living inside their house could possibly expect their deposit back. She's probably selling her house because your dog's fleas, itching, scratching, shedding and slobbering have made it smell like and be, a dog house toilet. Fine place for a baby. Instead of making a fight out of it, you should kindly take the hint and leave, so the landlord can start recovering from your damages..

Answer 9

Regardless of not being on a lease you are a tenant month to month and you are required to give proper notice in addition the law deals with the issue of the deposit and of notice to you for showing the property. So here are the links to your issues and other issues that might come up later.

STATE’SLANDLORD TENANT ACT: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate?WAISdocID=72145723910+1+0+0&WAISaction=retrieve

HUD – Tenant rights in California: http://www.hud.gov/local/ca/renting/tenantrights.cfm

Pamphlet from the State of California on Landlords and Tenants:
http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/landlordbook/catenant.pdf

Private Attorney’s Website on Tenant/Landlord issues: http://www.caltenantlaw.com/

Home owner and renter assistance programs: http://www.ftb.ca.gov/individuals/hra/index.html

California Civil code - CONTRACTS – Sections 1619 – 1632: http://www.lectlaw.com/files/bul15.htm
Best of luck to you

Answer 10

Best answer: Talk to an attorney!