RENT WATCH

Question: When I originally rented my current apartment, I signed a one-year lease. Under the terms of that lease, I was entitled to two parking spaces. The original lease expired a year ago. About six months ago, the resident manager began parking his RV in one of my two spaces. He never asked my permission; he just started doing it. Am I still entitled to two spaces, and if so, what can I do to enforce my rights?

Answer: The good news is that you are still entitled to two spaces, for the time being.

Under California law, when a lease expires and you continue your tenancy without signing a new lease, you automatically become a month-to-month tenant. This condition is called “holding over.” Until changed, the terms of the lease, such as parking space assignments, automatically carry over to your month-to-month tenancy.

The bad news is that since you are now a month-to-month tenant, your rental terms, including your parking spaces, can be changed unilaterally by management, using a 30-day written “change of terms” notice. Until the terms are changed, you might have a legal claim for the value of the parking space you are losing, but that would require the inconvenience of a Small Claims Court action.

A better solution, which would avoid your inconvenience and preserve your relationship with the manager, might be talking directly with the manager. If that doesn’t work, consider contacting a local mediation program to obtain help from a neutral third party. A mediator could help you explore a resolution with the manager that meets both your needs, such as another space or an agreed-upon reduction in rent.

-- Martin Eichner, Project Sentinel

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www.housing.org

Eichner is director of Housing Counseling Programs for the Sunnyvale, Calif., mediation service.