Your tenant can whine, cry, bleat, and moan all she wants. Unless barred by law (some places in CA are different. San Francisco is one of them I think. We have a CA expert here who will likely chime in), you have the right to not renew a lease. It would be best if you can let us know where exactly in CA you are. Good luck to you if it IS San Fransisco.

If she doesn't pay her rent, you can give her the 3 Day notice the very second it is late. Why wait? If she pays by mail, you have to allow a couple days extra, since Courts will allow that time for mail delivery.

If you want to evict her but don't want to use a lawyer, hope you enjoy having a Tenant In Suffrage (how's that for lawyer-speak...it basically means freeloader), for a long time, since NO ONE should ever do an eviction by themselves if they have never seen one done. Even then... Eviction lawyers aren't that expensive. Cities are teeming with them. Try living out where I am. No eviction lawyers for a hundred miles. Argh.

Anyway, if you evict, hire a lawyer. In the long run, it will cost you less. Get a lawyer that SPECIALIZES in evictions. They charge a flat fee.

Don't wait. Every day she stays there for free costs you money and makes it that much harder to evict.

Send her the 3 Day Pay or Quit now now now! Start the ball rolling. Once the 3 days have expired (3 days plus the day you send it...post it on the door and send it in the post...plus weekend and holidays I think), contact an EVICTION attorney with haste. Courts give priority to evictions.

Good luck.

Lighthope

Pearls of Wisdom - Treat every day as if it were your last. One day, you'll be right.