I'm a landlord with a duplex in CA. I live in one unit, have a tenant in the other with a 1 year rental agreement (not sure if that technically makes it a lease, but it is entitled 'rental agreement')
The tenant was solvable and looked agreeable and reasonable, but has been a pain since moving in, complaining about the smallest things.
We had a verbal agreement and plan with deadline proposed by the tenant for fixing one issue, yet before that deadline the tenant filed a complaint with the city without saying anything.
Now City code enforcement inspector is paying me a visit. The place is probably up to code from the 1990's, but I expect there might be (hopefully minor) renovations.
Seeing how much of a pain the tenant has been so far, I can expect the tenant might also cause me trouble for inconveniencing during renovations. Especially the tenant has always insisted to be present for the original attempts to fix the problem, but has an odd schedule and very different working hours than mine which has made it difficult.
If renovations could inconvenience the tenant, or even shut down the place for a few days, what are my and the tenant's rights?
Can I break the agreement if I am forced into heavy renovations by the city? Can the tenant claim damages?
Is there exceptions for breaking such rental agreement, like for example if I were to move into the unit? (I currently live in the attached unit)
In the rental agreement, I can only find a provision for termination of the agreement in case the place is partially or completely destroyed due to situation out of my control. Would city imposed renovations fit under this provision?
I have a land use consultant, and I'm eventually looking into hiring an attorney, but I thought I'd ask here first.