When Does a Guest Become a Tenant in California? - Fast Evict (2024)

It happens all the time. A newboyfriend or girlfriend begins spending every night at your apartment rental.Someone down on their luck moves in sleeping on the couch while they try to gettheir life in order. Visiting relatives stay longer than expected. An elderlyrelative who needs help after a fall stays with their children.

Usually, at first this doesn’t seemlike a big deal to the tenants. But for the landlord its important to getanyone who stays on the property past a designated time period on the lease orrental agreement to be legally accountable.

At what point under California Law doguests who are not initially screened and signed onto the rental or leaseagreement become tenants? This isimportant for landlords to understand because guests can easily become majorliabilities when they begin acting like tenants.

Tenants are People Whose Names Appear on the Rental or Lease Agreement

Standard rental and lease agreementsoften state:

Guests may stay amaximum of 14 days in a six-month period – or 7 nights consecutively on theproperty. Any guest residing on the property for more than 14 days in asix-month period or spending more than 7 nights consecutively will beconsidered a tenant. Anyone living on the property must be listed and sign thelease agreement. The landlord may increase the rent at any time a new tenant isadded to the lease.

What Are the Signs You May Have a Rogue Tenant?

A rogue tenant is someone who is livingon the property who has taken up residence without landlord approval, who isnot listed on the lease or has signed it.

Common signs of a rogue tenant are:

• Theyspend most nights on the property
• They’recontributing to the rent
• Theyhave a key
• Theyhave moved furniture or pets onto the property
• Theymake requests for maintenance

Landlords are protected under California Law if a tenant allowsanother person to move onto the property without permission. Landlords arewithin their rights to evict the original tenant for violating the lease ifthey chose.

Begin a Dialog

If yousee any of the above signs of a rogue tenant, best to start a dialog with thetenant listed on the rental or lease agreement and find out exactly what isgoing on.

Thismay be a difficult conversation for the landlord to initiate because nobodylikes conflict and confrontation. But remember, most tenants don’t think of itas a big deal to allow someone they know stay with them. However, it can be a very big deal for thelandlord who incurs a number of potential liabilities having someone residingon the property they don’t know who is not legally accountable because theyhavn’t signed the lease.

Forstarters, the landlord has no idea who this is and hasn’t had the chance toscreen them, do a background check, and most importantly approve them as aresult of exercising due diligence regarding who they are before allowing themon the property. While this may seem farfetched to the tenant who knows them,how do you the landlord ­­know they are not a fugitive on the run, or a sexoffender that could pose a hazard to other tenants?

Not havinghad the opportunity to run a background check on them so you know and have theopportunity to approve or disapprove of them carries many liabilities for thelandlord if problems eventually occur further down the line. And how do youknow they won’t with someone you don’t know?

Forexample, what if they are on the property and accidently start a fire thatburns down several residences? Is theguest listed on your insurance policy? If not there is a chance you could be dealingwith very expensive costs if the insurance company doesn’t cover all expensesbecause they were not considered a legal tenant who had signed the lease orrental agreement.

What ifsomeone who is down on their luck sleeping on a couch doesn’t get their lifetogether and you have to end up having to evict them for nonpayment of rent? Ifyou have allowed this situation to occur past what is considered the normalperiod of time a guest is allowed to stay, they may be able to claim tenantstatus. This then requires you to go through the expensive Unlawful Detainerprocess just to get rid of someone who didn’t have their life together whenthey arrived on the property – that you never approved of in the firstplace!

Everyonecan sympathize with a tenant with an elderly parent who has suffered a fall andwants to stay with their siblings when they need help recovering. However, that same infirmary that caused themto fall in the first place may reoccur while on the property. Only this time itcould be construed that it was something on the property that caused them tofall, leaving the landlord with an expensive lawsuit.

What ifthey bring a pet onto the property that bites another tenant? Are you the landlord liable?

Godforbid, they are a pedophile sex offender – one of the most difficult mentaldisorders to correct and cure with a very high rate of reoccurrence – thatcould pose a threat to children on your property you could be responsible ifyou allowed them to stay on the property!

Bottomline – you don’t know!

Theseare just a few of the ways a landlord takes on major liabilities allowingsomeone to reside on the property who is not legally accountable for havingsigned and agreed to follow the lease or rental agreement. Your tenant whoknows and has invited this person onto the property probably has not thoughtthrough all of these eventualities that need to be explained to them if itdoesn’t seem like a big deal to them – it certainly is to the landlord and you aremaking clear why.

Make a Determination of the Tenant’s Good Faith

Itsometimes helps to initiate this discussion after giving the tenant 24 hourwritten notice that you intend to do aproperty inspection. This not only givesyou the opportunity to look around and see who is there, but gives you a faceto face meeting in which you can discuss the issue. It also helps resolvequickly any issues that could subsequently arise from insurance claims shouldthat ever be necessary, so always better done sooner than later.

Expectthat the tenant may not think having a guest stay this long was as big a dealto them as it is to you. But there are questions you deserve answers to andjudge if they are being honest and sincere or trying to knowingly get away withsomething they know they shouldn’t be doing.

You canbegin the conversation with something like,

“I’venoticed there is someone on the property staying here who is not on the lease. How long have they been here?” See if their answer jives with what youalready know.

Iftheir answer doesn’t add up with what you already know, hold your opinion fornow to try to get more information from them freely without seeming to confrontthem and putting them on the defensive.You can return to this discrepancy later after you’ve gotten answers tomore questions.

Theidea is to try to get as much information as you can at this point withoutgiving any.

“Dothey have a key?” If they do, that’s one indication of thelegal definition of tenancy – although not in itself ironclad. In a court of law, it will be a preponderanceof facts that determines legal tenancy which is why you want to get as muchinformation as you can from the tenant at this point of the dialog withoutputting them on the defensive.

“Havethey been receiving mail at this address?” Thereare reasons people can have mail sent to an address that is not theirs and isnot in and of itself proof of tenancy. But it’s the pattern of residency youare trying to establish with these questions.

“Arethey contributing rent?” Betterto save this question for last after getting answers to the questions precedingthis. Here’s why.

Tenantswill frequently want to make the impression the individual is not a deadbeat,and so voluntarily offer an answer to this question that they are contributingrent. Fact is, this will probably be very difficult to find out other thanhaving the tenant say they are.

If theanswer to this question is yes, they are contributing rent, that is the singlestrongest evidence they are in fact a tenant which combined with the answers tothe previous questions clearly establishes the pattern that will likely hold upin a court of law if it should ever come to that.

“What’syour understanding of the rental agreement regarding visitors?” Again, having the answer come out of theirown mouth will make for the best outcome going forward. Refresh their memorywith a copy of the rental or lease agreement they signed and see how theyrespond.

Thereare three steps to an effective resolution of a conflict.

1. Asincere apology with an acknowledgement that a mistake was made
2. Anattempt to make right what was wrong
3. Apromise not to repeat the mistake going forward.

If you feel they are working with youand want to continue the rental agreement, then the guest needs to be added tothe lease with their signature so they are legally accountable as atenant. The landlord has the right toraise the rent at this time with the addition of another occupant. However thatmay conflict with local rent control laws that are important to study and actappropriately.

If you feel the issue is not resolvedto the landlord’s satisfaction, allowing people to reside on the property pastthe designated guest period is grounds for eviction if that is made clear inyour agreement.

Never Accept Rent from Someone Who is Not on the Lease

If you accept rent from someone who isnot named in the lease, a landlord tenant relationship is established underCalifornia Law before they have agreed to the terms of the agreement. If you do accept rent, you will establishrights for the tenant that may make them harder and more expensive to get ridof than a trespasser or squatter.

Rent is usually money, but it can also mean services. The moment money or services changes hands between a landlord and an occupant it establishes a non-verbal rental agreement which may create an uphill battle for you in court if you should ever have to remove them. While tenants often feel allowing a guest to move in isn’t a major issue because they know them and feel in control, guests can easily become pests when they overstay the prescribed time limit if they are not screened and if approved, signed onto the lease so they become legally accountable. While this can often seem rather innocent on the tenants part, it’s essential for a landlord to protect themselves and educate the tenant on what you will and will not accept because there are major liabilities for landlords under California law if tenancy is established without first signing a rental or lease agreement.

At Fast Eviction Service, help on any of the issues discussed in this article is simply a click or phone call away. Email intake@fastevict.com or call our office at (800) 686-8686 to discuss your questions for a free evaluation of your case.