Month to month? Or 1 year lease

[Allan Pilapil]

I just purchased my first property and will be looking for tenants to move in. Due to the economic climate and high percentage of people not paying rent, would it be smart to rent by the month or 1 year lease? My concern is having a tenant that refuses to pay rent and is tied into a 1 year lease vs having a month to month contract where I can have them leave the following month if we can’t find common ground. Please let me know your thoughts on this! Thank you!

[Jon Schwartz]

Originally posted by @Allan Pilapil:

@Andy Eakes

Thanks Andy I’ll definitely take all that into consideration and be picky and selective with my next tenants. I’ll probably do month to month with a guarantee that I won’t raise rents for the following 12 months

Btw I’m jealous you’re in SD. Lived there for 4 years and miss it every day lol

Allan,

I think you need a better understanding of CA's rent control laws.

By law, you can raise rent only once in a twelve-month period.

Also, by law, you can only evict for just cause. So even if you tenant is on a month-by-month lease, if he/she stops paying and claims to be impacting by COVID, he/she is protected from eviction.

Good luck!

Jon