Use caution when accepting rent payments from third parties
It’s a cardinal sin that housing providers make. With no lease agreement drawn up, the landlord nonetheless accepts money from someone staying in the rental unit. Surprise, surprise - the occupant asserts they are a tenant entitled to the full protections afforded to them under state or local rent and eviction controls.
The person lingering on the premises refuses to leave and the landlord is dismayed to learn that they must go through the lengthy, carefully choreographed steps of an unlawful detainer (eviction) action.
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Fortunately, housing providers can avoid inadvertently establishing a tenancy.
A 2018 law amended Section 1947.3(a)(3) of California’s Civil Code empowers landlords who accept third-party payments to require the third party’s acknowledgment stating that he or she is not legally considered to be a tenant and that acceptance of rent payment does not create a tenancy. In other words, the third party paying rent has no argument that he or she is entitled to possession of the unit.
If the person paying rent on behalf of someone else refuses to waive a claim of tenancy, the landlord or their agent can decline the third-party payment.
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Why does this matter?
At Bornstein Law, we often see a family member or a caregiver paying a portion or all of the rent attempt to claim that a tenancy has been established and insist that they have the legal right to live in the unit. In a unit that is rent-controlled and rent is below market rate, it may be especially enticing for family members or caregivers to weasel their way into the premises and then claim that they are entitled to stay.
One of the consequences of a free society is that people come and go and, sometimes, it becomes a game of musical chairs to the point where housing providers do not even know what the legal relationship is with the occupants laying their heads in the buildings they own or even who the occupants are.
Bornstein Law can make sense of it all and help landlords regain control of their properties. For informed advice, reach out to the firm built for rental property owners.