patrick.net

If you don't want to worry about the hassle of moving then just swallow the pride and pay it early. Pick a 1-2 day time frame when the check will be dropped off, and make the dropoff place something better than under a doormat.

wuaname says

If he gives me a 30 day notice.. and I don’t move, what’s next for him to evict me? It can’t be for non payment…

In CA the sheriff won't show up for 6 month. When I was younger I had to play this card to make the landlord take a few steps back. Some do try to be bullies and only fear of losing money makes them act reasonable. He can't change locks or turn off utilities as that is against the law under forced eviction.

For most people though if you are reasonable they will be too. Do try to work things out, but don't let any LL get pushy. They should be happy they have a renter who is actually paying.

If he is asking for rent that early, check with county assessor of any NOD's, he might be in default. (call or website) If he is in foreclosure, he is probably not going to be sticking to his contract so you can stop paying basically.

Few years ago to help make ends meet we rented out our guest house to a gentlemen. He only paid first month and not a penny for the next 5 month. No eviction, he just left after 5 month of non payment. Believe me, no landlord wants that and many know that is possible. They are willing to kiss your ass as long as you are paying on the first of every month. So don't let them bully you, you have a good card in your defense as well.

"If he gives me a 30 day notice.. and I don’t move, what’s next for him to evict me? It can’t be for non payment…"

If he gives you a 30 day notice on a month-to-month, the eviction would be for breach of contract.

If you have a contract, you can pay according to the contract. If the landlord doesn't like it, he/she can't unilaterally re-write it.

It sounds like the problem is HIS bank, not yours. His bank is putting a hold on the funds according to what Regulation CC allows. Either his bank does this as a matter of policy, or it does it because he has bounced checks or is otherwise risky to the bank. It may be a good idea to do your own due diligence on the solvency of your landlord if you suspect the latter or if the house has received NODs, as someone mentioned above.

LL's think you work for them. He works for you.
talk it though.

go fill out another app for a place. make sure they call your current LL to check on you. this usually gets LL's attention fast IMO.

obviously he is stressed about money. threaten to leave if he can't drop the issue with a written agreement by next payment.
check out his property with county records to see where he stands.

you still have to pay rent by law if he is not paying but, this gives you room.

As a small time landlord myself (6 units), I hate hearing stories about dick landlords like this because they give decent landlords a bad name.

First, legally in CA, he cannot require cash payment from you unless you have had a check dishonored by the bank. And then he can only do it for 3 months from the date the check was dishonored. You might point him in the direction of the CA Consumer Affairs webpage to help him understand his obligations.

Nor can he require "early" payment. He can, however, change the specific payment date with respect to the term. That is to say, he can make the contract run month to month with payment due wherever in the month the term starts. (with proper 30 days notice)

You're right, worst case he could serve you with a 30 day notice terminating your rental, but that is usually a stupid thing for a landlord to do with a decent rent paying tenant. Best case he is going to have a huge hassle finding a new tenant and he's going to lose potentially weeks of rent waiting to fill the vacancy. Stupid.

Worst case, you don't feel like moving at the close of the 30 days. He will then need to have you served in person (assuming you don't accept certified mail) which means he has to have a process server track you down in person. Failing that he can serve by posting the notice and mailing to you, but that is a least preferred route by the court and he has to give an extra 10 days for proper service.

Then you have 5 days to respond to the notice. Your response can be limited to checking the box saying that you object and want a court hearing. I think the form may have a space for a reason but it can be anything like contractual objection. If you fail to file a response then after another 5-10 days (don't remember) then he can file for a default judgement which the court will then specify another few days till the sheriff is allowed to come force you to move.

If you do file, then a court date has to be scheduled which will likely be several more weeks or a month. Then the discussion can come in front of a judge where you can either show up or not show up. If you do show up, you would probably point out that his 30 day notice is retaliatory for you exercising your legal rights to properly pay your rent. You might end up with a sympathetic judge. Especially if you've continued to pay your rent for the extra lodging time on say a weekly basis. If the judge does find it to be retaliatory he could make it very expensive for the landlord.

If you don't feel like showing up, a default judgement will be entered, but proper notice will still have to be given from whatever date the judge decided the sheriff could get involved, which means notice has to be posted on your door for some number of days (don't remember how long).

Taking the case to court though could end up costing you some of his legal and collection fees though usually this is still a losing proposition for the landlord even if he prevails. If the landlord does end up with a judgement against you, he can, however, have that reported to credit reporting agencies which could be problematic....

Overall, a great place for tenants to get some free legal guidance is "project sentinel"

All of this assumes that you do not live in a municipality with additional rent control requirements. If you do, then there may be many extra protections afforded the tenant.

His bank is putting a hold on the funds according to what Regulation CC allows. Either his bank does this as a matter of policy, or it does it because he has bounced checks or is otherwise risky to the bank.
You might also want to tell him to try depositing the check at an ATM machine. Our business was having trouble with ridiculous hold times on checks (some in the six figure range) which we would bring in to the bank to deposit. We found that depositing at the ATM (versus giving it to a bank teller whose butt is probably in the hot seat if they accept a 'bad' check) limited the access to funds for only one day. YMMV as these are personal checks that the landlord is receiving for rent payments.

EBGuy says

Our business was having trouble with ridiculous hold times on checks (some in the six figure range) which we would bring in to the bank to deposit.

I'm not sure if business accounts are regulated differently, but I've never heard of ATM deposits being treated that much differently from teller deposits -- it's usually based on the amount and specific identifiable risks, not how it's deposited. You can read about the typical hold time for Regulation CC checks:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulation_cc

A 6-figure check would certainly be subject to holds generally. There are also exceptions to the normal rules if your account is new, has been overdrawn, etc. -- banks are allowed to hold longer if there is a particular risk that Regulation CC recognizes. Cashiers checks and other checks that are highly unlikely to be returned unpaid require the bank to make more funds available sooner.

However, note that banks are *allowed* to do this. Many of the big banksters do use the maximum amount of hold, but some smaller banks or credit unions will expedite funds sooner because they are more friendly. Also, some banks will make exceptions if you have enough in your account to cover the check based on their algorithm/procedure.

One of the credit unions I use typically makes a lot more than $100 available on the 1st day and doesn't always use the maximum period, and that's even if you use remote deposit!

EBGuy says

You might also want to tell him to try depositing the check at an ATM machine. Our business was having trouble with ridiculous hold times on checks (some in the six figure range) which we would bring in to the bank to deposit. We found that depositing at the ATM (versus giving it to a bank teller whose butt is probably in the hot seat if they accept a ‘bad’ check) limited the access to funds for only one day.

I use the ATM to deposit checks, and whenever I have a check that is for more than 5K I get a letter from the bank telling me when the funds will be released. I don't pay much attention to them, but it is around a week I think.

fizbin says

If you do show up, you would probably point out that his 30 day notice is retaliatory for you exercising your legal rights to properly pay your rent. You might end up with a sympathetic judge. Especially if you’ve continued to pay your rent for the extra lodging time on say a weekly basis. If the judge does find it to be retaliatory he could make it very expensive for the landlord.

One thing to note is that if your landlord refuses to accept your rightful payment, you can still tender the payment to the landlord and should document this. In fact, you should generally document everything very carefully.

Under the typical eviction law, even if your are late in payment, if you tender payment of sufficient rent to make you current + late fees + court costs before the eviction hearing, the landlord must accept the tender of payment because the court considers this a better remedy than conducting eviction when the tenant would be current and the landlord would be made whole.