Dear Michael: I am renting an apartment and my lease is set to expire at the end of May. My landlord has informed me that he will not renew my lease. I have two questions. A) How long does the landlord need to notify me to move out and how long can I stay after the expiration of my lease? B) Do I have the right to ask the landlord for moving expense?
Answer: If a tenant has lived in the premises for more than one year, the landlord must provide at least 60 days’ notice to vacate. If the tenant fails to vacate within the appropriate notice period, or fails to correct his breach of the agreement, the landlord may pursue an eviction action. There are a number of reasons for eviction. Your landlord can give you the boot if you violate the terms of your tenancy such as break the law, if you have pets contrary to your lease, create a nuisance, don’t pay your rent or harass other tenants. But there are also scenarios in which your landlord can evict you for no reason at all. This power is limited depending on the details of your rental arrangement, the city in which you live, the type of housing you are renting and the underlying reason that the landlord is evicting you for “no reason.” State law protects you from being evicted for discriminatory reasons like your sex or skin color. The law also protects you from being evicted for retaliatory reasons, such as having complained to the landlord about something that needed fixing, or fixing it yourself and deducting the cost from your next rent payment, or initiating legal action against your landlord because of the condition of your rental unit. More generally, you cannot be evicted for exercising any legal right that inconveniences the landlord. Some jurisdictions in California have landlordtenant rules that go above and beyond the state’s laws. According to the California Department of Consumer Affairs, “Some rent control cities require ‘just cause’ for eviction.” The specifics depend on where you live, so your first step should be to look at your city’s website. You can also call the Los Angeles housing Right Center at 800-477-5977. You can always ask your landlord for moving expenses but he is in no way obligated to comply.
Dear Michael: We were doing a final walk-trough just before closing escrow on our new home. We noticed some items that we would like the seller to fix but our agent is telling us that we should have asked for these items to be repaired earlier when we did our inspection.
Answer: I guess you are asking me: what is the protocol of the “walk-trough” also correctly known as “Verification of Property Condition”. The buyer has a right to a final review of the property usually within 5 days prior to the close of escrow. This is not an inspection but a verification of the properties condition to make sure that repairs have been completed and that the house is in the same condition as when you first purchased it. You had an inspection at an earlier time. If your home inspector failed to notice any defects with the property or if you simply failed to request any repair from the seller, now it is too late. If your home inspector is at fault for not finding items that needed repairs you need to take it up with him. If there are major repairs the inspector neglected to find, call him and explain your concerns. If all fails consider consulting with a real estate attorney in order to help you resolve the problem.
Dear Michael: I am buying a house and I am told that it is part of a PUD What is a PUD and how does it affect my new home?
Answer: A PUD (Planned Unit Development) can take the form of a community of townhomes or detached homes. Membership in the HOA is mandatory. The HOA fee is often used to cover insurance and maintenance. The difference between a PUD home and a condominium townhome is that in a PUD, you actually own the land your home sits on, and usually a small back and front yard. In the case of a condominium townhome, all land is commonly owned and maintained by the association. (A good example of a PUD is the new homes being built at the Playa Vista development). Some buyers may prefer a PUD as with a PUD you can landscape the land you own, rather than having the HOA control it. HOA fees for PUD’s are usually lower than for condominiums because there is less involvement from the HOA Most PUD’s will not have pools, clubhouses, or tennis courts (although they sometimes do). PUD ownership is as secure as condo ownership, as long as the HOA is solvent and doing its job. To reiterate, the main difference between a PUD home and a condominium townhome is that in a PUD, you own some land and in a condo, the HOA does.
Michael Kayem is a Realtor with Re/max estate properties serving Culver City and the Westside since 2001. You can contact Michael with your questions at 310-390- 3337 or e-mail them to him at: homes@agentmichael.com