Dear Michael: I m 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 2 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 good reasons that you can be evicted. Your landlord can give you the boot if you violate the terms of your tenancy, break the law, 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 landlord-tenant 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: I purchased a new house and have not been able to sell the old one. So, I’ve decided to rent it out. The renters I’ve been talking to want a 3-year lease. I am concerned about whether I would owe capital gains taxes on the future sale of the property, as I have about a $250,000 profit on the property. Is there a way to transfer the house to a limited liability corporation (LLC) or other such corporation to allow the sale to occur before the “2 out of 5 year” requirement is up?
Answer: If your tenants lease your home for three years, you can still sell the home while the tenants live there, but it will be sold as an investment unless your tenants agree to leave.
And even if you sell it on or before the end of the third year, you would still have owned if for two out of the prior five years and qualify for keeping the $250,000 in profits (up to $500,000 if you’re married).
I think having tenants who want a long-term rental is very fortunate if you are looking at a longer term investment. Your property may continue to grow in value over the years and you’ll be hopefully covering at least most if not all of your expenses.
Please make sure whatever type of lease or lease/option you sign covers all of your concerns. A real estate attorney should be able to help.
Dear Michael: We are doing a final walk-trough just before closing escrow on our new home. We notice 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 property 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.
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 email them to him at: homes@agentmichael.com