Petaluma, CA asked in Landlord - Tenant and Real Estate Law for California

Q: My Mgnt Co leased my house w/o notifying me, I am no longer under contract,& I need my house back, what can I do?

I signed a 12 month contract with my management Co About 4-5 years ago, so I do not currantly have a contract with the Mgnt Co, and they have been leasing it out for the last 5yrs w/o a currant lease agreement, and now we need our house back so we called to ask when the lease between the Mgnt co and tenants was over, they said march 2016 so we called at the Beginning of Feb and we were told the tenants left early so we just leased the house for another year, we told them we are going to need our house back and they said we have to buyout the lease for the term of the lease.

What are my options ?

1 Lawyer Answer
Richard Samuel Price
Richard Samuel Price
Answered
  • Redlands, CA
  • Licensed in California

A: Your issue seems to be with the management company, rather than the tenant. If the tenant is under a lease agreement, then you will not be able to terminate the lease, except as provided in the lease agreement. You'll probably have to wait for the lease term to terminate, or negotiate a shorter term with the tenants and pay their relocation costs.

However, your property manager has a fiduciary duty to act in your best interests. If they leased out the property without your consent knowing that you didn't want to re-lease the property, then you may be entitled to damages against the property manager.

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