patrick.net

I put in renter's right, ca and yahoo came up with a whole load of links you can use. For a start - it lists things like the landlord has to give you a written notice first, then after that the listing agent has to give you 24hours notice and an estimated time (by phone) each time they want to show. You have a right to be there at all times and you can also tell them it's inconvenient (I think). Also, it has to be during normal business hours (The Right to Civil Code 1954 Compliance)- which is (from one of the websites) Mon-Fri 9am-5pm - not the realtors preferred weekend and evening showings.

Now, you could always use this to your advantage and negotiate a rent reduction or some kind of compensation in return for being more accommodating as you are paying for teh sole use of this property - or use your knowledge to get them to be more reasonable.

Hope this helps - I will see if I can dig up any other good websites.

The landlord still has to give you 30 days notice before you have to leave.

yes. that is really helpful. thank you so much Claire.

Unless your agreement with your landlord states you will let strangers in your home to look at everything, you have no obligation to do so. That being said and you wish to have a chance to move out later rather than sooner then you can make your own agreement with the landlord and the realtor that you will have 48 hours notice of anyone coming over to look at your house - and- you will not leave the house just because someone is coming over to see it. If you pay the rent then you live there - too bad if the realtor would like it otherwise. I dont know what your contract states or what laws apply to your area for renting but most likely, your landlord could give you 60 days notice to leave. Actually that would be the right thing to do but your landlord is probably accounting for taking a long time to sell. That would be one reason why the landlord has you still there paying rent. you might get lucky and the new owner is a landlord and wants you there paying the rent to so maybe you wont have to move. That happened to me. this is not to be taken as legal advice, just taken from someone who has been in the same situation and did not have any desire for a legal fight, which I dont think there is since you can move. But there is some law that you can claim conditions forced you to move or something like that. Look it up. It could be you claim that all these people looking at your home caused your family stress. I dont know about that for sure though, but I do know you can tell the realtor to take a hike - but then your landlord could give the 60 day notice as well

mel says

yes. that is really helpful. thank you so much Claire.

Mel,
lookup tenant law, tenant right, in addition to to Claire's sites. There are alot of them. Good luck

ptiemann says

I don’t think that the buyer will keep her as a tenant. The prices in San Mateo are too high and rents too low.
He should’ve made up his mind in October and given her notice to move by 1/1/2010

then he would’ve had January to clean the place up

and ready for the spring selling season by February.
A couple of months of rent are peanuts compared to the sale price of the house. The house most likely fetches a $40k higher price if vacant and nicely staged. Compare that to the 10k he collects in rent, or whatever.
I guess the landlord is not a motivated seller.

well, ya never know. Having a consistent renter at a lower rate might be better than trying to rent at a higher rate and have the place be vacant for a long time. I suppose this all depends on what the buyer and seller are trying to achieve

http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/landlordbook/index.shtml

I've been down this road before and tried to play nice with the landlord/realtors, ultimately for nothing. You are not banking goodwill with any of the parties that can be cashed in in the future, doubly so if buyers' agents are coming by to show the place - you'll probably never see them twice.

Read the DCA page; your landlord (or their agent) has the right to show the property with 24 hours' notice, during normal business hours. However, there is no requirement that you leave the house while it is being shown, keep it clean, etc. Additionally, you don't say what kind of lease you have. If you have a year-long lease signed, then that lease remains valid even if the house gets sold (only exception is foreclosure). Unless someone is buying the place as an investment property, there is *no way* they are going to want to buy the house if you have 6 months left on your lease.

Ignoring the legal aspects, it's virtually impossible for the landlord to sell the place without your cooperation. Use this to your advantage. Remember, *they* are the ones who decided to sell the house, and *they* put you in the awkward situation of having to deal with visitors and possibly move. They could have waited until your lease was up before selling. Cooperation is a two-way street, and they need to recognize that.

Decide what's more important to you: staying in the house until the end of your lease (if you're not month-to-month), or moving. If it's the former, just hang tight and insist that realtors follow the 24 hour notice required by law. If it's the later, go back to the table with your landlord, and present them with the following deal: in exchange for converting your lease to a month-to-month (so that a new buyer can move in), and in exchange for you keeping the place orderly while it's being shown, you want a massive reduction in rent, and the right to move out with less than 30 days' notice when you find a new place. Depending on the rent reduction, maybe you want the LL to cover moving expenses as well. Get it in writing.

It's difficult to sell a place with dirty underwear on the floor, unwashed dishes in the kitchen, and a tenant who calls the police every time a realtor shows up with less than 24 hours' notice or outside business hours. If your landlord/agent has any sense, they'll want to cooperate with you.

Some cities may also have tighter rent control laws. In Oakland, for example, a landlord cannot end a month-to-month lease without cause due to Measure EE. Your city may have rent laws that give you additional leverage.

In Feb, my landlord told me they wanted to sell the place, and I agreed to move voluntarily, since I'd been thinking about it anyway. As soon as I moved into a new place with a year lease, the new landlord also decided to sell (?!). This time, I'm staying put - they should have thought it through before signing the lease.

John Bailo says

When you rent or lease property, you have all the property rights of the owner.
That means you don’t have to allow anyone, at any time, to impose on your property.
You have every right to tell your landlord to stay away from your home, or to give you free rent during the period in which he wants people to intrude on your domicile.

In California, this is simply not true. Read pages 33 and 34 of the DCA guide linked to above, especially the section on page 34 covering oral notice when showing the house to a prospective buyer. If you repeatedly bar your landlord from entering after he's given you adequate notice, you've just opened yourself up for eviction. And not the 30-day notice kind, either.

Thanks everyone for the comments. I have read DCA guide Claire mentioned. That has helped me greatly.

In my situation, I really not interested in reducing the rent or any other benefits. I want to move out of here as soon as possible. The only thing bugging me is that I have a 2 year old at home and he needs to sleep typically from 1pm to 5pm. Now we made agreement with the landlord that they only show the house in the morning. that is good enough for now.

Still, I do not like the CA law at all. It did not clearly define the limit for the visits. Home is home not office. 9am - 5pm does not suddenly morphed a home into an office. There are lots of people going into the house. That is really annoying. Somehow, there shall be a limit to that.

I've been going through exactly this. We've been fairly strict about the 24 hour notice to show, and the showings are during business hours only. This isn't done to prevent sales or to inconvenience anyone, but we pay lots in rent every month and for that we're entitled to actually live in the house. We want to stay as long as possible, but also want to comply with the law. The listing agent has called constantly saying he "has to" have open houses every weekend, etc., etc. No, he doesn't, and that's all you have to say.

The NOD on this house was filed over 2 months ago. It will be interesting to see what the bank does or doesn't do when the 90 days are up.