If you are a landlord Sonoma County or elsewhere in the State of California, and have a tenant who is not paying rent, refusing to get rid of their five cats, or bothering your other tenants, then you may want to evict them from your property. There are a number of reasons why landlords may want to evict tenants, and in some cases a landlord doesn’t even need to give a reason.

Step one: Realizing you have a problem.

Many landlords are often surprised to discover that people who appear well-mannered, decent and honest can turn out to be exactly the opposite. If after signing the written lease agreement, moving in and paying their deposit the tenant is consistently late on the rent, and then starts finding problems with the tenancy, be forewarned. A very common dynamic is for a tenant who can’t make the rent is to suddenly find problems with the wiring, the heat, or rodents. It is your responsibility as a landlord to make certain that the tenancy meets standards of habitability, enumerated in the case Green v. Superior Court. Also see California Code of Civil Procedure 1174.2. In other words, if they are complaining about something, fix it immediately. Otherwise in a case where the tenants are being evicted for failure to pay rent, the tenant can raise that as a defense.