Under California Landlord/tenant Law, Can I Have A Non-rent Paying Guest Indefinitely Without Adding Them To The Lease?

[Wanikiy]

My Landlord is insisting that my girlfriend who recently moved in with me co-sign the lease. The thing is, the reason that my girlfriend moved in with me is that she's unemployed and can't afford the relatively swanky apartment I am renting. If anything were to happen to me, I don't want her to be on the line for rent she would never have agreed to owe. Double win if you can cite the actual CA statue! I want to be informed when I respond to my landlord. :)

[marlan43]

A lease or rental agreement is a contract between a landlord and a tenant which gives the tenant... A lease or rental agreement is a contract between a landlord and a tenant which gives the tenant the right to use and occupy rental property for a certain period of time. When a tenant turns over the right or the partial right to use and occupy rental property to a roommate or subtenant, that agreement is sometimes referred to as a sublease. A lease can be a verbal agreement or a written agreement. At the end of the lease, use and possession of rental property must be returned to the landlord. A lease requires the tenant to pay a specified amount of money each month in return for the use and enjoyment of the premises. This payment is called rent.Parties to a LeaseLandlordA landlord is the owner the rental property or the agent of the owner of rental property. Often real estate management companies will act as landlords for private or CORPORATE entities. The landlord allows a tenant to use and occupy the rental property in exchange for payment of rent.TenantA tenant is the person or entity that has the right to occupy rental property in accordance with a rental agreement or lease. In addition to provisions set out in the lease, state law typically outlines tenant rights with its own Landlord and Tenant law.RoommatesIf roommates are listed on the lease, each roommate is considered a tenant and each one will be individually fully responsible for the total amount of the rent due to the landlord, unless the lease specifically states otherwise. If only one roommate is listed on the lease and the others have not signed the lease, only the roommate listed is considered the tenant. The others are considered subtenants. Only roommates who sign the lease are responsible for the full amount of the rent to the landlord. The roommates who signed may have some separate claims against their non-signing, non-paying roommates, but such claims would typically be covered by contract law rather than landlord tenant law.Standard Lease ProvisionsMost lease have standard provisions which set forth landlord and tenant rights and obligations. Such provisions include: 1. The names of the parties 2. A description of the rental property 3. The term, or length, of the lease 4. The amount of rent 5. The due date of the rent 6. The amount of the security deposit 7. Whether the tenant is subject to late fees 8. Maintenance responsibilities 9. Options to renew 10. Termination notice requirements 11. When the landlord may enter the rental property 12. Rules concerning petsWhile leases or rental agreements do not have to be in writing to be valid, the terms of the agreement will be easier to enforce and the responsibilities of the parties will be clearer if the rental agreement is in writing. Sources: http://www.enotes.com/everyday-law-encyclopedia/landlord-tenant-rights newuser53169682 47 months ago Please sign in to give a compliment. Please verify your account to give a compliment. Please sign in to send a message. Please verify your account to send a message.

[Callaghan]

A lease or rental agreement is a contract between a landlord and a tenant which gives the tenant the right to use and occupy rental property for a certain period of time. When a tenant turns over the right or the partial right to use and occupy rental property to a roommate or subtenant, that agreement is sometimes referred to as a sublease. A lease can be a verbal agreement or a written agreement. At the end of the lease, use and possession of rental property must be returned to the landlord. A lease requires the tenant to pay a specified amount of money each month in return for the use and enjoyment of the premises. This payment is called rent.Parties to a LeaseLandlordA landlord is the owner the rental property or the agent of the owner of rental property. Often real estate management companies will act as landlords for private or CORPORATE entities. The landlord allows a tenant to use and occupy the rental property in exchange for payment of rent.TenantA tenant is the person or entity that has the right to occupy rental property in accordance with a rental agreement or lease. In addition to provisions set out in the lease, state law typically outlines tenant rights with its own Landlord and Tenant law.RoommatesIf roommates are listed on the lease, each roommate is considered a tenant and each one will be individually fully responsible for the total amount of the rent due to the landlord, unless the lease specifically states otherwise. If only one roommate is listed on the lease and the others have not signed the lease, only the roommate listed is considered the tenant. The others are considered subtenants. Only roommates who sign the lease are responsible for the full amount of the rent to the landlord. The roommates who signed may have some separate claims against their non-signing, non-paying roommates, but such claims would typically be covered by contract law rather than landlord tenant law.Standard Lease ProvisionsMost lease have standard provisions which set forth landlord and tenant rights and obligations. Such provisions include: 1. The names of the parties 2. A description of the rental property 3. The term, or length, of the lease 4. The amount of rent 5. The due date of the rent 6. The amount of the security deposit 7. Whether the tenant is subject to late fees 8. Maintenance responsibilities 9. Options to renew 10. Termination notice requirements 11. When the landlord may enter the rental property 12. Rules concerning petsWhile leases or rental agreements do not have to be in writing to be valid, the terms of the agreement will be easier to enforce and the responsibilities of the parties will be clearer if the rental agreement is in writing.

[Adin]

If your original lease specified ONE person and now she is living there, meaning TWO people, you may be in material breach of the lease yourself. Particularly if you didn't add her as a resident on the lease document.The landlord is absolutely correct and within his rights to demand that she is added to the lease.And as soon as she is added, she liable for payment if something happened to you.

[Cecillus]

From the booklet:People who are not named as tenants in the rental agreement or lease sometimes move into a rental unit before the landlord files the unlawful detainer(eviction) lawsuit. The landlord may not know that these people(called "occupants") are living in the rental unit, and therefore may not name them as defendants in the summons and complaint. As a result, these occupants are not named in the writ of possession if the landlord wins the unlawful detainer action. A sheriff enforcing the writ of possession cannot lawfully evict an occupant whose name does not appear on the writ of possession and who claims to have lived in the unit since before the unlawful detainer lawsuit was filed.(See "Writ of possession.")The landlord can take steps to avoid this result. The landlord can instruct the process server who serves the summons and complaint on the named defendants to ask whether there are other occupants living in the unit who have not been named as defendants. If there are, the person serving the summons and complaint can serve each of the so-called "unnamed occupants" with a blank Prejudgment Claim of Right to Possession form and an extra copy of the summons and complaint 305These occupants then have 10 days from the date they are served to file a Prejudgment Claim of Right to Possession form with the Clerk of Court, and to pay the clerk the required filing fee(or file an "Application for Waiver of Court Fees and Costs" if they are unable to pay the filing fee(see The Eviction Process)). Any unnamed occupant who does not file a Prejudgment Claim of Right to Possession form with the Clerk of Court(along with the filing fee or a request for waiver of the fee) can then be evicted.An unnamed occupant who files a Prejudgment Claim of Right to Possession form automatically becomes a defendant in the unlawful detainer lawsuit, and must file an answer to the complaint within five days after filing the form. The court then rules on the occupant's defense to the eviction along with the defenses of the other defendants306 If the landlord wins, the occupant cannot delay the eviction, whether or not the occupant is named in the writ of possession issued by the court.307Occupants not named in writ of possessionThe landlord sometimes does not serve a Prejudgment Claim of Right to Possession form on the unnamed occupants when the unlawful detainer complaint is served. When the sheriff arrives to enforce the writ of possession(that is, to evict the tenants [see "Writ of possession,"]), an occupant whose name does not appear on the writ of possession, and who claims a right of possession, may fill out a Claim of Right to Possession form and give it to the sheriff. The sheriff must then stop the eviction of that occupant, and must give the occupant a copy of the completed form or a receipt for it.308Within two business days after completing the form and giving it to the sheriff, the occupant must deliver to the Clerk of Court the court's filing fee(or file an "Application for Waiver of Court Fees and Costs" if the occupant is unable to pay the filing fee(see The Eviction Process)). The occupant also should deliver to the court an amount equal to 15 days' rent for the rental unit(the writ of possession must state the daily rental value of the rental unit).Five to fifteen days after the occupant has paid the filing fee(or has filed a request for waiver of the fee), and has deposited an amount equal to 15 days' rent, the court will hold a hearing. If the occupant does not deposit the 15 days' rent, the court will hold the hearing within 5 days.At the hearing, the court will decide whether or not the occupant has a valid claim to possession. If the court decides that the occupant's claim to possession is valid, the amount of rent deposited will be returned to the occupant. The court will then order further proceedings, as appropriate to the case(for example, the occupant may be given five days to answer the landlord's complaint).If the court finds that the occupant's claim to possession is not valid, an amount equal to the daily rent for each day the eviction was delayed will be subtracted from the rent that is returned to the occupant, and the sheriff or marshal will continue with the eviction.

[Chappell]

ElBanditoRoso said: 2 If your original lease specified ONE person and now she is living there, meaning TWO people, you may be in material breach of the lease yourself. Particularly if you didn't add her as a resident on the lease document.The landlord is absolutely correct and within his rights to demand that she is added to the lease.And as soon as she is added, she liable for payment if something happened to you. 47 months ago

[Wilfredo]

*Carla* said: 1 If the lease has a remaining term(1 year for example), the landlord cannot modify it on their own. However, if the original term is over, and it is now a month to month tenancy, the landlord can change the terms after sufficient notice to you. 47 months ago

[Tempeltun]

If the lease has a remaining term(1 year for example), the landlord cannot modify it on their own. However, if the original term is over, and it is now a month to month tenancy, the landlord can change the terms after sufficient notice to you.

[Yasir]

It also may depend on the municipality you're in as they may have local laws that affect your situation. In my area, I've heard Santa Monica is much more tenant-friendly than the City of LA, for example.EBR may be correct if you go back and read your lease. They typically have something in there that says "guests" can stay for no longer than x days at a time after which they are considered a tenant and need to be added to the lease. The trouble in your situation would seem that she might not even qualify to be on the lease anyway.

[Colfre]

It looks like the landlord is trying to avoid a writ of possession problem From the booklet:People who are not named as tenants in the rental agreement or lease sometimes move into a rental unit before the landlord files the unlawful detainer(eviction) lawsuit. The landlord may not know that these people(called "occupants") are living in the rental unit, and therefore may not name them as defendants in the summons and complaint. As a result, these occupants are not named in the writ of possession if the landlord wins the unlawful detainer action. A sheriff enforcing the writ of possession cannot lawfully evict an occupant whose name does not appear on the writ of possession and who claims to have lived in the unit since before the unlawful detainer lawsuit was filed.(See "Writ of possession.")The landlord can take steps to avoid this result. The landlord can instruct the process server who serves the summons and complaint on the named defendants to ask whether there are other occupants living in the unit who have not been named as defendants. If there are, the person serving the summons and complaint can serve each of the so-called "unnamed occupants" with a blank Prejudgment Claim of Right to Possession form and an extra copy of the summons and complaint 305These occupants then have 10 days from the date they are served to file a Prejudgment Claim of Right to Possession form with the Clerk of Court, and to pay the clerk the required filing fee(or file an "Application for Waiver of Court Fees and Costs" if they are unable to pay the filing fee(see The Eviction Process)). Any unnamed occupant who does not file a Prejudgment Claim of Right to Possession form with the Clerk of Court(along with the filing fee or a request for waiver of the fee) can then be evicted.An unnamed occupant who files a Prejudgment Claim of Right to Possession form automatically becomes a defendant in the unlawful detainer lawsuit, and must file an answer to the complaint within five days after filing the form. The court then rules on the occupant's defense to the eviction along with the defenses of the other defendants306 If the landlord wins, the occupant cannot delay the eviction, whether or not the occupant is named in the writ of possession issued by the court.307Occupants not named in writ of possessionThe landlord sometimes does not serve a Prejudgment Claim of Right to Possession form on the unnamed occupants when the unlawful detainer complaint is served. When the sheriff arrives to enforce the writ of possession(that is, to evict the tenants [see "Writ of possession,"]), an occupant whose name does not appear on the writ of possession, and who claims a right of possession, may fill out a Claim of Right to Possession form and give it to the sheriff. The sheriff must then stop the eviction of that occupant, and must give the occupant a copy of the completed form or a receipt for it.308Within two business days after completing the form and giving it to the sheriff, the occupant must deliver to the Clerk of Court the court's filing fee(or file an "Application for Waiver of Court Fees and Costs" if the occupant is unable to pay the filing fee(see The Eviction Process)). The occupant also should deliver to the court an amount equal to 15 days' rent for the rental unit(the writ of possession must state the daily rental value of the rental unit).Five to fifteen days after the occupant has paid the filing fee(or has filed a request for waiver of the fee), and has deposited an amount equal to 15 days' rent, the court will hold a hearing. If the occupant does not deposit the 15 days' rent, the court will hold the hearing within 5 days.At the hearing, the court will decide whether or not the occupant has a valid claim to possession. If the court decides that the occupant's claim to possession is valid, the amount of rent deposited will be returned to the occupant. The court will then order further proceedings, as appropriate to the case(for example, the occupant may be given five days to answer the landlord's complaint).If the court finds that the occupant's claim to possession is not valid, an amount equal to the daily rent for each day the eviction was delayed will be subtracted from the rent that is returned to the occupant, and the sheriff or marshal will continue with the eviction. Sources: http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/landlordbook/appendix1.shtml awarulz 47 months ago Please sign in to give a compliment. Please verify your account to give a compliment. Please sign in to send a message. Please verify your account to send a message.