Buyers Must Honor Current Lease Agreement
QUESTION: My wife and I have been living in a home we have been leasing for many years. Our current lease terminates in 10 months. The owner recently died and left the property to her children, who promptly sold it.
The new owners have just informed us that they want possession of the property and have given us a 30-day termination notice.
We thought our lease was still valid even though the house changed hands. The new owner claims that once the property is sold, all previous rental contracts, including leases, are invalid. Is this true?
ANSWER: No. Providing that the property was not sold under a forced sale--i.e., foreclosure--the new owner is obligated to honor any existing rental contracts.
If you are on a lease, the new owner must honor its terms (including not raising rent during the period of the lease, unless there is a provision in the agreement allowing such an increase).
The terms of the past lease are assigned to the new owner unless a tenant and property owner mutually and voluntarily agree to change those terms.
Complex Doesn’t Offer Enough Parking Spaces
Q: We are having a problem with parking at our apartment complex. All units are two bedrooms, but only one parking place is assigned to each unit. Clearly, this causes a problem, as most tenants with two (or more) cars must park on the street.
My husband and I work late, and one of us has to walk several blocks in the dark. Does the management of our complex have any responsibility to provide sufficient parking based on the number of tenants?
A: This is a common problem, especially in older apartment complexes that were built at a time when most households only had one car.
Newer complexes are often required by the local planning agency or city council to provide adequate off-street parking.
You have the option of talking with your apartment management and asking for special consideration. However, the management could have a problem if it grants your request, because that may be opening the floodgates to similar requests or demands from other tenants.
The management has no legal responsibility to provide extra on-site parking unless the current situation violates a local zoning or planning ordinance.
Increase in Rent Meets Resistance
Q: I own a small rental property, and when the present tenant moved in, he signed a six-month lease. The agreement stated that at the end of the six months, it would become month-to-month and that the rent would be increased by $50.
The lease expired this month, and the tenant is refusing to pay the rent increase and has paid only the amount due under the expired lease. We offered him a new six-month lease with the monthly increase at $25 instead of $50. He still balks, saying he doesn’t know how much longer he will be in the area. Do you have any suggestions? Aside from this problem, he has been a good tenant.
A: If the tenant signed the lease agreement as you describe, and since you did not accept the old rent amount, your tenant should expect to pay the new rent amount listed in this lease agreement (providing the new rent increase is in compliance with any local rent control ordinances).
You can contact your local mediation program for assistance in resolving the problem, or if the tenant continues to disagree with the new rent amount, you can serve either a three-day notice to pay rent or quit for the unpaid amount, or a 30-day termination notice. If the tenant does not comply with either notice, then you must decide whether you want to pursue an eviction through the courts.
Lastly, since the tenancy has been good, you may even consider allowing the tenant to stay at the old rent, since he has indicated he may be leaving the area soon.
New Management Wants to Oust Pets
Q: Our new management company has served notices stating that the complex no longer allows pets. I’ve had my cat for more than 10 years, and most of the other tenants also have pets and have had them for several years. Do you have any suggestions on how we should approach the management to resolve this issue?
A: For starters, if you are on a lease, the owner cannot change the rules during the term of the lease. If you are on a month-to-month basis, the owner can, with a 30-day written notice, establish a no-pet policy.
However, this is of little comfort to you, because sooner or later under the new policy, you will need to either get rid of your pets or move.
You might consider contacting management, and stating that you are a responsible pet owner and that your pet does not damage the apartment. You could also suggest that if the owner does not want to allow new pets, he could allow existing pets to stay with their owners.
Owners frequently require a pet agreement and deposit to cover any damages by the pet; perhaps you can offer to sign such an arrangement as a compromise.
There is also the option of a mediation, which would allow concerned tenants to discuss the issue with management in the presence of a trained mediator. The mediator would help you explore different approaches that you and the management might take to solve your problem. The mediator will not take sides but will guide the conversation to what hopefully will be a solution that is satisfactory to all parties.
Not All Cities Require Interest on Deposit
Q: I have a tenant who has lived in my rental house in Mountain View for the past four years. She is about to move, and she wants me to pay interest on her $800 security deposit. Do I have to do this?
A: No, not in Mountain View and not in most California cities. Cities currently requiring interest to be paid on security deposits are Berkeley, Cotati, East Palo Alto, Hayward, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Santa Monica, Watsonville and West Hollywood.
You might tell your departing tenant that if she wants interest on her security deposit at the next place she rents, that she discuss her request with the landlord before signing the rental agreement. Should the landlord agree to pay interest on the deposit, the landlord should add this clause to the written rental agreement.
This column is prepared by Project Sentinel, a rental housing mediation service in Sunnyvale, Calif. Questions may be sent to 1055 Sunnyvale-Saratoga Road, Suite 3, Sunnyvale, CA 94087, but cannot be answered individually.
For housing discrimination questions, complaints or help, call the state Department of Fair Housing and Employment at (800) 233-3212, or the Fair Housing Council, Fair Housing Institute or Fair Housing Foundation office in your area:
Bellflower: (888) 777-4087.
Carson: (888) 777-4087.
El Monte: (626) 579-6868.
Hawthorne: (888) 777-4087.
Lancaster: (888) 777-4087.
Long Beach: (562) 901-0808.
Pasadena: (626) 791-0211.
Redondo Beach: (888) 777-4087.
San Fernando Valley: (818) 373-1185.
South-Central Los Angeles: (213) 295-3302.
Westside Los Angeles: (310) 474-1667.
Orange County: (714) 569-0828.
San Bernardino County: (909) 884-8056.
San Diego County: (619) 699-5888.
Ventura County: (805) 385-7288.
