Posted on 09/02/2006 2:21:46 PM PDT by radar101
California's landlords, who face a possible return of two-month notices to move out long-term tenants, have launched a postcard campaign urging Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to veto the idea. Landlords across Sacramento and the state say a one-month notice is enough when asking tenants to leave for no cause. It's used to evict problem renters and to move out tenants for condo conversions and new ownership.
"The 30-days notice is one of the few remaining tools that owners and managers have to remove problem residents such as drug dealers and gang members," said Cory Koehler, deputy director of the Rental Housing Association of the Sacramento Valley.
The group represents 1,500 individual owners of about 85,000 apartments in the region. Members plan to barrage the governor with cards titled "Don't give crime more time." Sacramento County District Attorney Jan Scully also is urging Schwarzenegger to veto the measure.
Schwarzenegger is considering a bill to bring back the two-month notices that were required in California from 2003 through the end of 2005. The bill would affect only those who have lived in the same unit more than a year.
The Governor's Office said that Schwarzenegger has not yet taken a position on the issue.
At least six other states -- Massachusetts, Vermont, Delaware, Hawaii, Colorado and Georgia -- require more than 30 days to move out long-term tenants. Seven -- Illinois, Oklahoma, Indiana, Florida, Virginia, Missouri and West Virginia -- require 60- and 90-day notices for renters with yearlong leases, say the bill's backers.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
I like one month as well.
90 days?
I lived in a small cottage with a garage for 16 years and had made the garage a work shop. Hard to imagine how I could have gone from receiving a letter to living in a new home in just 30 days.
When I remember just being a guy in an apartment it took me about 2 days to move, even married in a 3 bedroom apt I was fine with a 30 day notice because my living was easily transferable from one apt. to the next.
When people shift to long term house living everything changes, after a very long period of living in a house, it takes a while to get your life and packing in order and find a new suitable dwelling and get everything relocated to that new dwelling.
To me this sounds like a balance could be worked out, such as starting the 60 day notice after 3 years for apts. and 18 months for houses, that would eliminate the worst of the problems.
I spent a few years in the apt. business in maintenance, then management, so I know full well the horror stories, and can tell you many.
Ah heck, since we want to make LAW...
Make it a year!
No...make it 2 years...
Wait...3 years is even better.
Yep, that is why we elected them to government!
I remember when 10 days notice was sufficient.
Anything over 30 days is nonsense. No landlord wants a turnover of tenants. That's a money loser - money to repaint and clean; some loss of rent; etc. Most will give a longer notice if a conversion is planned, but a 30 day notice is most often (I do not say always) used for a problem tenant - one who is a public nuisance or doesn't pay rent, for example.
I had to evict a tennant recently. Talk about a nightmare. And the damage done to the unit was another story. On little tidbit....they filled the refrigerator with food and unplugged it 2 to 3 weeks before they left.
I once lived in a great apt until the landlady passed away. her siblings sold the house to some jerks who fix the place up etc...and then sell it for a lot more money. I had no problem with that except for the fact that the whole time they were in the process of buying the house, they told me how I could stay and they were going to fix it up etc... the day after the closing she turned into a spawn of Satan and told me to get out. Thank heaven I found a great place right away, but I did strip every single thing that was worth anything out of there (since they were redoing the whole place.
the best part was that I took an upper-decker in the toilet. Thats when you drop a poop in the upper portion of the toilet. It must have stank like hell.
I also pissed all over the stairs a few times and of course left the cat litter for them.
trust me--She was a b*tch and a half.
Any improvements or changes you make to rental property you have to be willing to leave behind. That's the risk you take with renting.
I don't understand why a person would live in one place for 16 years without buying. It doesn't make sense.
3 days seems about right. God created motels for a reason.
One needs to "profile" prospective tenants quite carefully. I conduct my own informal "depostion" as to who moves into my units. It is very rigorous. Those that get in, however, are very lucky. I am a very generous and kind landlord, in my mind, and rarely say "no" to tenant requests. I am an easy touch. But I want to be an easy touch, for those whom I think of good character, and respect, rather than bounders. Most of my tenants say when they leave, they regret losing me as a landlord. :) Sure, no doubt, with another approach, I could make more money, but life is too short, and I choose not to live my short life that way.
"Any improvements or changes you make to rental property you have to be willing to leave behind. That's the risk you take with renting."
I know that and had no interest in taking any improvements with me.
I couldn't buy the ocean front property my little shack was on, and it was an incredible little place on the ocean that was too rough for any one else to live in, so I rented it for next to nothing, when the last owner finally got a permit to tear it down (this isthe California coastal commission), he gave me a 4 month heads up which gave me enough time to relocate my business into a home I bought.
I had a good relationship with every investor that bought the property and was always prepared to move in my thirty days, (although I did breathe a sigh of relief when the 60 day notice for long term renters came to be law).
For 16 years people told me to get official recognition from the historical society people for the 1893 building, but I would never play that game, that is one reason the owners always liked my living in the place, it paid the taxes and they trusted me not to cause a real estate nightmare for them.
I like knowing that when a major repair is needed, like a new roof, garage door, A/C unit, it's not my expense.
I ran the numbers after we sold our last house, 13 years ago, and all told (all taxes, repairs, etc.), we would've saved a few thousand dollars had we rented at prevailing rental rates through the time we owned.
So, I'm happy to rent.
There is that one risk when you rent though -- don't get too attached to your home. If you don't want to run the risk of having to be kicked out in a month's notice, it may be worth it to buy.
I rent, because I never know where I am going to be from one year to the next. I also usually get 10 days' notice when I have to move and it only takes me three days to pack.
I know of an eviction currently in progress in San Diego Superior Court based on a 30 day notice. Tenants didn't warn the owner of a water leak and waited till the floor tiles were coming up then called the building department to have apartment declared uninhabitable. When the owner sent a plumber and a handyman to fix the unit, they wouldn't answer the door. Owner offered them an identical unit on identical terms in the same building if they would move so he could repair apartment - they refused. At the last court hearing, the judge ordered them to pay the unpaid rent for the last two months til the trial - tenants had several friends there with photos to testify. Who knows what will happen at the trial in Khalifornistan.
If the tenants had the unit (which was in good condition when they moved in) declared uninhabitable, why do they fight tooth and nail to stay in an uninhabitable unit?
That is so sad. These laws are so cruel to good and honest people.
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