Sherman Oaks, CA asked in Contracts, Criminal Law and Real Estate Law for California

Q: Landlord ?: can I technically give “1 day leases” with 0 tenant/landlord obligations to have a gathering during covid?

Technically couldn’t I give unlimited leases just for one day to have all attendees be considered “household members”

1 Lawyer Answer
William Stanger
PREMIUM
William Stanger
Answered
  • San Jose, CA
  • Licensed in California

A: The one day lease isn't the problem. A contract (including a lease) is not valid if it has zero obligations. You are also limited in the number of legal tenants to two per bedroom. Further, it seems likely that such a lease would be deemed to have an "illegal purpose" and be void for violating public policy, if the only actual viable purpose is to violate COVID restrictions. You may also inadvertently violate a local Airbnb ordinance, if any. Note that if you are found to have violated an anti-gathering COVID restriction or Airbnb ordinance, you're going to have to be able to explain it to a judge. That is a lot of risk.

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