Tenant Can Help Broker Sell Rental House
Question: Our lease was up at the end of last month. Our landlord is willing to extend our lease with the stipulation that the property will be listed for sale with a broker and we will show the home or cooperate with the broker showing the home during that time.
Am I legally obligated to show the home or even allow an agent to show the home while I am occupying it? As long as I’m living here I would prefer not to have a lock box and to have as much privacy as possible. What do you suggest I do?
Property manager Griswold replies:
You are not required to accept the landlord’s offer but, likewise, the landlord can legally enforce the termination of your lease.
Thus, the question only you can answer is whether staying in the home until it sells is worth the hassle and inconvenience of having people going through your home. This is your call.
Remember that you will have to move sooner or later, but maybe it is not a good time for you to move now. Also, the home may not sell and/or the owner may take it off the market after a few months if the offers are unacceptable.
Of course, if you stay and accept the owners’ proposal conceptually, California Civil Code section 1954 concerning the owners’ (or authorized agents of the owner) rights of entry will apply.
Notwithstanding the code section, I would suggest that you try to negotiate reasonable terms in writing regarding access.
For example, see if you can eliminate the “unlimited access” lock box if you can usually accommodate access during normal business hours and weekends with a minimum of 24 hours’ notice (as the owner or agent is allowed per Civil Code 1954). The lock box may still be there literally, but the key (no pun intended) is how it is used.
You might also have a heart-to-heart conversation with the owner’s listing broker. You can probably tell a lot by this.
Many brokers realize that it can be easier to sell a home that is occupied and that the broker’s extra effort of working with you can be worthwhile in the long run. However, the broker will rightfully be concerned and looking for any signals that may indicate that you will sabotage the sale, either openly or subtlely.
This situation requires the maximum of cooperation and communication between the parties but can work advantageously for all.
You get to stay a little longer, the owner collects some more rent and the broker gets to show an occupied home. I would also recommend that you ask your landlord for a bonus if the home is successfully sold in a certain time. For example, maybe if the home is sold in three months, you get the last month’s rent free; in six months, a half month’s rent free, and so on. It is a smart move by the owner to make you part of the sales team.
Landlord Can Probably Demand Money Order
Q: We have been renting for three years and have always paid by personal check. Now the manager said that all rent must be paid by money order and that he will not accept our checks anymore. I do not want to use money orders because it is really inconvenient to buy them. Can they do that to us?
Attorney Ted Smith replies:
Yes. You probably have a month-to-month tenancy. If so, the landlord can change the terms of the tenancy with proper written 30-day notice. Such changes include increasing the rent, changing services or, in this case, altering the acceptable method of paying the rent. So long as proper notice is given, it is legal for the landlord to change the payment method from check to money order only.
Attorney Steven R. Kellman replies:
No, not necessarily. Leases generally can not have their terms changed during the lease term. A landlord may, however, change the terms of a month-to-month tenancy on a 30-day notice, but not all term changes are necessarily proper.
For example, can a landlord demand that the rent be paid in postage stamps or grocery store coupons? Though that example seems silly, it may be equally unreasonable to force a tenant to pay rent by money order when there was no history of problems with past payments by check.
Although I would argue that such a demand is improper, legal advice should be sought before protesting such a rent payment rule change.
Must Owner Repaint? Only If There’s Danger
Q: I have been living in my apartment for six years and the inside really needs painting, but the landlord will not paint it. He says he is not legally required to do so. Can I withhold the rent to try and force him to paint?
Smith replies:
He’s not required to paint. Don’t try to withhold rent to force the landlord to paint.
Under California law, he is responsible for maintaining the premises in a habitable condition. A paint job is cosmetic only because it does not relate to the bare living conditions, such as electric, water and plumbing required by the warranty of habitability.
If he refuses to paint, you are free to move elsewhere upon 30-day notice. If you’d like to stay, try to work things out. You could assume all or a portion of the labor and material costs for the painting. If the landlord approves, you can absorb the costs and remain in possession of the premises.
Kellman replies:
Painting may be required of the landlord. Though Smith is essentially correct, he fails to mention situations when painting is needed to correct an unhealthful condition. This can occur when a mold or mildew problem needs repair that will include painting.
Also, certain older “‘popcorn” type ceilings contain asbestos or other harmful chemicals and need routine painting to seal the surface. Certain older units have lead-based paint, which should be removed and replaced with a safer, latex-based paint.
If, however, the painting is for cosmetic purposes only, it will not be considered a habitability situation and rent withholding will not be allowed.
This column is written by property manager Robert Griswold, host of “Real Estate Today!” (KSDO-AM [1130], 10 a.m. to noon Saturdays) and attorneys Steven R. Kellman, director of the Tenants’ Legal Center, and Ted Smith, principal in a law firm representing landlords. Send questions to Rental Roundtable, Real Estate section, L.A. Times, Times Mirror Square, L.A., CA 90053. Or you may e-mail them at rgriswold.latimes@retodayradio.com. Questions cannot be answered individually.
