Domestic Violence Eviction?

[Brennen Thompson]

Hey guys!

A friend and I are houshacking in LA and have recently been thrown into an unusual situation.

For some context, we bought a duplex last December and inherited tenants that currently live opposite of us. Up until this point, we’ve had no issues with these tenants. Moreover, a standard buy-out/eviction would be costly/time consuming since they've been in the unit for roughly 8 years.

Earlier this morning, there was a domestic disturbance in our tenants unit. As a result, one of the tenants on the lease will be moving out. The other tenant plans on staying (the one that will probably be going to jail) which brings me to my question:

Given that domestic abuse is not something that we want happening on our property, we were wondering if this gives us any ground to evict? We don’t have anything in the lease covering this issue (other than standard law abiding contingencies), but given the severity of the problem we’re thinking that there might be a work around here. If so, we planned on having a discussion to work something out with the tenant and would only like to involve our lawyers if absolutely necessary.

Any help/advice here would be greatly appreciated!

[Nathan Gesner]

You may want to consult an attorney on this one. However, you'd be surprised how any renters will just leave when you ask them to. I would talk to him (if you're comfortable) and let him know the behavior is unacceptable, that you are concerned he may end up in jail and unable to pay rent or stay, and it would be in everyone's best interest for him to leave now rather than be forced out. If he refuses, contact the attorney and handle it officially.