[CA] Can I evict a tenant a tenant who is late on rent and has unauthorized pets?

Lexi, Chatbot

I understand how stressful it can be to deal with a tenant who isn’t paying rent and has unauthorized pets. Have you already communicated with your tenant about the unpaid rent and the presence of the dogs?

Lexi, Chatbot

What type of lease agreement do you have in place with your tenant?

Gurney P

Welcome and thank you for your questions. I’m GurneyP, and I'm ready to draw on my years of experience as an attorney and former prosecutor to offer some guidance. Please keep in mind: This chat does not create an attorney-client relationship, but I am here with you and writing up a very thorough answer that should only take 3–5 minutes.

Have you previously given your tenant any written warnings or notices about the unauthorized dogs or unpaid rent?

Gurney P

I see, ok. Is your lease agreement with the tenant a month-to-month rental or a fixed-term lease?

Gurney P

Thank you for clarifying, and I understand exactly why you want to address both issues at once. When a tenant stops paying rent and violates the lease by bringing in unauthorized animals, it puts you in a strong position to move forward with lawful removal. Sonoma County follows California state law very closely on this, so the steps are fairly standard. (CA Civ Pro Code § 1161)

Right now, you’ve already taken the correct first step: serving the 3-Day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit. That notice covers the rent issue only. If she doesn’t pay within the three days, that notice becomes the foundation for an eviction case.

For the unauthorized dogs, California allows a separate notice called a 3-Day Notice to Perform Covenant or Quit, which tells the tenant to remove the extra animals or leave. This is the appropriate notice for lease violations that can theoretically be fixed.

A few key points for you:

• You can serve both notices at the same time. They don’t cancel each other out.
• The rent notice requires payment; the pet notice requires removal of the extra dogs.
• If she does neither, those violations stack and strengthen your case.
• Even though your lease says breaches “automatically terminate” the contract, you still must use California’s formal eviction notices. Courts require them.

Because your lease ends in January, you’ll also have the option of simply choosing not to renew, but using the violation notices now protects you if things get worse.

Gurney P

Definitely, you can serve a 3-Day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit even if she is not yet 30 days late. California law allows this the moment rent becomes overdue. There is no 30-day grace period. Her claim is simply wrong.

Second, for the dogs, the correct notice is the 3-Day Notice to Perform Covenant or Quit. This tells her to remove the unauthorized animals within three days or move out.

You can serve both notices at the same time. They work side-by-side, and the court allows you to use both violations in your eviction case if she doesn’t fix them.

And here is a notice you can use, written in the same style as the rest of this message:

3-Day Notice to Perform Covenant or Quit (Unauthorized Animals)

You are hereby notified that you are in violation of your lease because you have more animals on the property than permitted. Your lease allows only one cat and one dog. You currently have three dogs. Within three days, you must remove all unauthorized animals from the property. If you do not do so, you must move out. Failure to comply within three days may result in legal action to recover possession of the property, plus court costs and other damages permitted by law.

Does that help?