Re: Month to Month Lease, is it easier to evict? - Landlord Forum thread 147933

WHY would you put in your agreement that rent is not considered late until the 6th of the month? Please don't confuse charging late fees date with late rent date. If you use a solid rental agreement...you should still be able to serve on the 2nd even if you don't charge late fees until the 6th..and I think charging late fees no later than the 4th is a better idea. And serving 3-day also no later than the 4th.

What city are the rentals in?

A MTM puts the LL in charge more. You can terminate without stating a reason for the "gray" areas that are typically hard to prove in court (they nag you to death, disturb others, etc). And you can change any terms any time you want with just a 30 day notice in most cases. Fixed term leases protect TENANTS more than LL's, especially in CA. People move if/when they want/have to period..fact of life.

Eviction for non payment is started using a CA law compliant 3-day pay/quit notice and filing can be done immediately after that 3-day legally expires. Termination w/o cause requires 30 or 60 day notice (depending on how long they have lived there or longer if Sec 8) and then if they don't move, same UD process.

BUT none of this applies if you are in a rent control city..where is the rental?

The property is in Brentwood in Contra Costa County (Bay Area) I called the City to find out about rent control, etc based on your initial reply.

I used the standard LPA month to month template which states rent is not officially late until after the 5th of the month. I thought that was standard...I believe I had a grace period when I used to rent. Although I may be misintepreting the agreement as written.

She has lived in the house since April and has been a pretty good tennant so far. I believe we also agreed on a 60 day notice for discontinuing the lease, but I am not sure if I only made that stipulation for her notice, or mine as well.

Thanks again.