Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

I am renting a condo to an unmarried couple. They "broke up" recently and the male, who has been paying the rent, would like his name off the 1-year lease. Do both tenants need to okay this change? What if the male gives a 30 day notice? Is it valid or do both people need to give 30 day notice since they are both on the lease?

A caveat: on the first page of the standard written lease I wrote the male's name in the "tenant" field. The last page of the lease is a signature page. Both the male and female signed on separate lines in the tenant fields. Therefore do I have a valid contract with both people or only w/ the male?


Asked on 6/22/10, 12:01 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

If one partner wants to stay, and you are satisfied with her as a tenant, your best course of action is just to sign a new lease with her. If you cannot negotiate something to the satisfaction of all three of you, the two of them are both jointly and severally liable to you for the lease as long as either of them occupy the premises. If she wants to contend that the discrepancy in the lease does not bind her to the lease, then your response is that she must move out if she is not a tenant. In any case, if you have to file an unlawful detainer, you need to name both of them, because all occupants need to be named, regardless of who is on the lease.

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Answered on 6/22/10, 3:38 pm


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