I have a single family home rental property in Sacramento, CA. I have been using a standard California Lease Agreement. In the Tenant's Hold...

Question

I have a single family home rental property in Sacramento, CA. I have been using a standard California Lease Agreement. In the Tenant's Hold Over clause: "If Tenant remains in possession of the Premises with the consent of Landlord after the natural expiration of this Agreement and no new renewal Agreement has been signed, a new tenancy from month-to-month shall be created between Landlord and Tenant which shall be subject to all of the terms and conditions hereof except that rent shall then be due and owing at $X,000.00 per month and except that such tenancy shall be terminable upon thirty (30) days written notice served by either party." At the end of the yearly lease agreement, the tenants did not request for a new yearly lease agreement nor did we offer them a renewal for late payment reasons and thus we assume that they automatically went to month-to-month. However when rent payment came, they continue to pay the yearly lease agreement rate instead of the month to month rate which is $100 more. When we contacted them to make the correct adjustment, they counter back by saying that it was the landlord's responsibility to notified them that the yearly lease agreement is coming up to be over and offer them a new one. However because they have been late in their rent payments, we have no desire to renew their yearly lease agreement and only wiling to offer month to month. The question is, is it true that it is the Landlord's responsibility to inform the tenant's that their yearly lease agreement is ending and offer them a new yearly lease agreement if I have the Tenant's Hold Over clause described above?

Answer

Absolutely not. Unless there is some requirement in the lease that you give them some kind of notice, you have no such duty. The lease is the notice that at the end of the term it goes to month-to-month. No other notice is required, nor are you required to give them a new year-long lease. If no other agreement is reached, the hold-over clause is triggered automatically and comes into full force and effect. The only thing you need to be aware of is that the law requires 60-days notice from the landlord to terminate a month-to-month, regardless of what the rental agreement says. So unless you evict time for non-payment of rent, you have to give them 60-days notice if you decide you want them out.