Possessory Rights of Tenants

It is important to know the rights of tenants if you are a landlord or property manager. Once the paperwork is filled in and excepted if the tenants have not surrendered their possessory rights or they have not expired a landlord or property manager has no possessory right. They were conveyed with the acceptance of the lease or rental agreement. Thus, landlords and property management are prohibited from entering the property and they haven’t the right to allow the police to enter the property. This remans true even if they suspect the tenants are using it to commit a crime. The circumstance which excludes landlords and property managers was listed in a prior post (Landlords Right to Entry). If the police desire to enter the property under most circumstances they need to obtain a search warrant to legally come onto the premises occupied by a tenant when the landlord has no right of entry.

There is however another exception to the rule. If the landlord suspects that there is contamination from hazardous waste. The landlord after giving advanced notice to the tenant has the right to conduct the test because hazardous waste contamination is a violation is a violation of the law and a breach of the lease provision prohibiting unlawful activities which adversely affect property value of the property and of other properties in the neighborhood. We covered the written notices which must be given before entry. The landlord or property manager also can mail the notice of entry to the tenant. If this approach is taken it needs to be noted that six days must pass before the intended entry can be scheduled to occur. This notice is sufficient for entry during normal business hours, emergency excepted, but if after hour entry is needed then the tenant’s consent must be obtained at the time of entry.

If the tenant is in a community apartment project or a common interest develop (CID) they are to be given 15 but no more than 30 days’ written notice if the property needs to be treated for termites. Condominiums and planed unit developments are examples of CIDs. When this occurs then the tenant and landlord must have in place a mutual agreement as to the need and the terms of the temporary displacement.

Many times, landlords and property managers give their tenants prior notice of their expiration date approaching. This is done so they can meet the mandate of informing the tenant of their right to have a joint pre-inspection. The tenant uses the pre-inspection to be advised of any defects to the property. The tenant may then correct or eliminate the deficiencies in accordance with their rent or lease terms before the vacate the property to avoid having money deducted from their security deposit.

Note: Images on this blog site are from a free source or taken by the author. No image or group of photos is intended to represent the people the author serves. The author does not care about Race (that is a politically correct term that he does not like because we are all of the same Race, the Human Race. He prefers the term ethnicity, color, religion, sex, gender, marital status, disability, genetic information, national origin, source of income, Veteran or military status, ancestry, citizenship, primary language or immigration status.) He is a service provider for all people. We will all rise together when we band together and help one another. Joseph Erwin is a Real Estate Broker, DRE # O2131799, and a CA general contractor # B 696662. He’s a member of the CRMLS and The East Valley Association of Realtors located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California.