What to do if I was served a 3-day notice with no warning?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
What to do if I was served a 3-day notice with no warning?
There is no legitimate reason for the notice. In the notice the landlord says I do not provide financial help nor does he want my financial help. Also, that my presence is stressing him out and causing him health problems. How do I fight this? All I want is a 30 day notice which I believe I’m entitled too. What should I do?
Asked on December 22, 2012 under Real Estate Law, California
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 11 years ago | Contributor
The most important question: are you a tenant or not? That is, do you pay rent? If you don't, you are a guest, and a guest may be asked to lease at any time and is not entitled to 30 day notice. Guests, quite simply, have no right to live in another person's home if that person doesn't want them anymore.
If you do pay rent, you are a tenant. Then if you are a tenant--
1) If you have a written lease for a definite period of time (such as a one-year lease), you may only be evicted at the end of the lease, or for good cause, like nonpayment of rent, deliberately or recklessly damaging the landlord's property, violating material (or important) lease terms, etc. Without good cause, you cannot be made to leave.
2) If you have written month-to-month lease or an oral/verbal lease, in addition to the above, your tenancy may be terminated on 30 days notice--but you have to get that notice.
In any event, the landlord cannot simply lock you out himself; he needs to file an eviction action (if you are a tenant; an ejectment action otherwise), take you to court, and prove that he is entitled to remove you. If he just changes the locks on you, you could take him to court to be reinstated in the property and possibly seek monetary compensation, too.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.