Tenant is suing for all back rent because the unit was not permitted when built. Do I have any legal recourse?

Possibly. At this point, there are several published California precedents holding that a landlord of an illegal unit has no right to collect...

How do you serve a 3 day notice to quit?

Service procedures are set forth in Code of Civil Procedure Section 1162. However, it is often prudent to hire a local landlord-tenant attorney to...

Can a landlord serve the 3 day notice to quit, or does the landlord have to hire a process server?

The landlord may serve a pre-litigation noitce, as opposed to serving a pleading or paper after the lawsuit has been filed. However, it is...

Whether you are a tenant, or a lodger, you are entitled to proper written notice (see e.e.g Civil Code Sections 1946-1946.1 and 1946.5), and...

Can l add tenants to my rental agreement ?

Your landlord's responses are problematic. See e.g. Section 37.9(a)(2) of the SF rent control ordinance, and Rent Board help topic 151. You...

Will it mess up the eviction proceedings if I accept rent from my tenant?

Acceptance of rent for a period after the termination date of the notice generally waives the notice and/or creates a new tenancy. I suggest you...

Lease renewal notice?

A landlord normally has no legal obligation to offer a renewal/extension at all. So, unless there was something in your existing lease which...

You may have grounds to break the lease without penalty under Civil Code Section 1942, the doctrine of constructive eviction, or may have grounds...

Received 30 day notice March 9th landlord accepted rent April 5th then April 6th told me I had to pick up the rent but still k

The landlord was entitled to pro-rated rent for April. If the amount refunded was at least as much as you were owed (after subtracting the...

Can a landlord charge me a pet rent without a 30 day notice?

If you have an unexpired fixed-term lease, the landlord can't impose new conditions at all until the lease expires. If you are month-to-month,...