Renting a place to live or to work comes with rights and responsibilities. As a landlord, you have to make sure the place is habitable and free of any type of danger. As a tenant, there are also certain responsibilities to take into account such as not damaging the place and paying rent every month.
When rent is due, the landlord can choose to evict the tenant. Eviction can be done only if the legal procedures are correctly followed and certain steps and requirements are met. Rent is usually due the first day of each month, and this should be clearly established at the beginning of the lease agreement.
What are the types of notices?
There are different types of notices according to the specific situation the landlord and the tenant are in. Some of the most common are a 3-Day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit California, a 3-day notice to perform covenant and there is also the 3-Day notice to quit. That link is to the Express Evictions law firm in California, a firm that specializes in helping landlords evict problem tenants for a reasonable fee.
Each notice has a very specific purpose and must be used carefully and under the guidance of an experienced lawyer. Eviction cases in court are not something to be taken lightly and the help of a lawyer who knows the terrain is of high value.
When do these notices appear?
The most common reason for a landlord to hand in a notice is that the tenant didn’t pay rent. There is also the possibility of having a tenant that has violated some of the terms already established in the agreement that was signed at the beginning of the rental term. Moreover, in some cases, the landlord just wants the space back, and they have the right to ask for it. In this last case, the landlord has to give more time to the tenant to quit the premises. But if it’s a lease situation, the landlord cannot evict without cause.
A No-Fault Eviction Notice – 30- or 60-Day Notice
In this case, when there is no fault by the tenant, but the landlord may still wish to terminate the contract once signed. If the tenant has lived or used the place for less than a year on a month-to-month agreement, a 30-day notice can be used without problem. If the tenant has been there for more than a year, it is necessary to use a 60-day notice. This is usually done to give the tenant enough time to find a new place and leave comfortably.
A Three-Day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit
With this type of notice, the total amount of the debt has to be paid in the following three days from the notice. Partial payments are not enough, and sometimes the landlords don’t even want to receive any amount different than the total one. Failing to pay the due amount is considered as a violation of the rental agreement, and therefore the eviction process can start.
A Three-Day Notice to Perform Covenant or Quit
In this case, the landlord is not asking the tenant to pay a debt but to modify wrong behavior. Maybe it was established at the beginning that pets were not allowed in the space and now the tenant has a pet. The main point of this type of notice is that the problems can be solved and the tenant is not forced to vacate the premises. It has to be clearly explained in the notice that the breach can be cured. If the issue is not fixed, the tenant is asked to vacate the premises.
Three-Day Notice to Quit
When the tenant violates a term in the lease agreement that cannot be fixed or paid, the three-day notice is the one used.
A violation that cannot be fixed may include the use of the place for illegal activities, the moving in of other tenants without the landlord’s permission or threatening the health of other people. Since this type of notice is the hardest one, it is advisable to have as much evidence to support your case as necessary.
A very important thing to understand about evictions and eviction notices is that these are legal processes. No landlord or tenant can choose to solve this on his own, without recourse to the law, because this can cause more trouble than the original problem with the tenant.
