If you rent out property, sooner or later you and your tenant will disagree. It may be about the condition of the apartment, the terms of the lease or whether he’s missed this month’s rent payment. Dealing with disputes is an essential part of property management. The best case scenario is that you can settle them without going to court.

Law

It’s easier to manage property and settle disputes if you stay within the law. Suppose you want to raise the rent on a month-by-month tenant. Under California law, you have to give 30 days notice, or 60 days if it’s more than a 10 percent hike. Cities with rent control, such as San Francisco, have even tougher rules. You can’t insist that your tenant pay in cash unless he’s given you a bad check. Even then you can only require cash for the next three months.

Lease

You can lease an apartment based on nothing but an oral agreement. That relies on you and your tenant having good and matching memories of what you agreed to. With a written lease or agreement that’s not an issue, and you can cover any points that are important to you, such as no pets, noise restrictions or use of the swimming pool. As long as your property-management decisions conform to the lease and the lease doesn’t include any conditions that break state law, you’re fine.

Talk

Even with an oral agreement, you have to give tenants your name, address and number — or that of your manager — so that they can contact you with complaints or worse, a legal summons. Communication is important: for example, if a tenant misunderstands the laws with regard to when you can enter the apartment, explaining the facts may make him appreciate your side. If the tenant has unreasonable complaints, listening and negotiating is often more productive than ignoring the problem.

Courts

If you have to evict a tenant, or he breaks the lease, it may be time to take it to the courts. California small claims courts allow you to file without hiring a lawyer and to sue for any amount up to $10,000. If you want to evict, you file in civil court. It’s always important to follow legal property-management procedure in tenant disputes: if you break the law by changing the locks on the tenant or shutting off the power, you put yourself in the wrong.

From: http://homeguides.sfgate.com/