QUESTION
If I'm behind on the rent for my small business, can the land owner place a lien on my house?
Asked on Sep 05th, 2015 on Residential Real Estate - California
More details to this question:
I run a massage shop and rent the commercial space from the property owner. The lease expired a year ago and I have since been renting the space on a month-to-month basis. I have been unable to pay rent for two months now due to recent health problems. I told the management company they can have the business if I can't find someone to take over and they said they'll get back to me on it. Since the lease expired a long time ago, I figured they can just tell me to vacate the space if they didn't accept my offer. I want to know if they can just go ahead and put a lien on my home without me knowing.
1 ANSWER
Estate Litigation Attorney serving Redlands, CA
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In order to get a lien against your house, the landlord must obtain a judgment against you in a court action and the record the lien with the county recorder's office. A lien is not automatic just because you owe someone some money.
You will continue to owe rent until either you or your landlord properly terminates your tenancy. While they will "get back to you on it," your bill is running up in unpaid rent. It's not just give it back to them, it's give it back to them plus the money you owe. The landlord's process to tell you to vacate would be to give you a 30-Day Notice to Quit, but you'll owe for rent until the notice period is expired.
First, try to negotiate with the landlord to either terminate the tenancy or allow you to make payments towards any back rents that you owe. Second, if you want to terminate the tenancy and stop the balance of rent running up, then give a 30-Day Notice of Termination to the landlord.
Answered on Sep 06th, 2015 at 8:28 AM