On Thu, 16 Apr 2009 20:38:38 -0700 (PDT),
"shareyourknowledge@hotmail.com" <shareyourknowledge@hotmail.com>
wrote:

>On Apr 16, 3:50*pm, "Bill Kearney" <wkearne...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>> > No, there's no lease.There's no rental agreement. It's a house and my
>> > wife doesn't want to go through that.
>>
>> Which is insanely stupid, from a liability standpoint. * *One serious
>> accident and any good attorney could get him more than the value of the
>> house in a lawsuit.
>
>I agree. I mentioned this to her but she doesn't listen. Like i said,
>it's her house, but she doesn't do things in a conventional way.

Off topic, but maybe interesting:

I played slum lord for many years. First for my fathers 13 unit
apartment building. Later for various house rentals and investments.
You're just asking for trouble with a verbal agreement. The courts
tend to favor tenant rights over landlords. Any disagreement might
end up in the courts where the tenant is likely to win. Your only
protection is a piece of paper that limits your exposure. The courts
might enforce a verbal agreement, which means that literally anything
your tenant claims will be considered as a binding contract. However,
if you have a piece of paper (rental agreement) it outweighs a verbal
agreement.

I suggest you purchase the Nolo Press Landlords book (this one for
Calif):
<http://www.nolo.com/product.cfm/objectID/CA928DBB-4072-4DE0-B9664D751CEDBDE5/213/>
and RTFM before you make any mistakes.

Also, my favorite trick was to look at the vehicle the prospective
tenant is driving. If the car looks like a garbage dump, that's what
your house will look like shortly.

Good luck.


--
# Jeff Liebermann 150 Felker St #D Santa Cruz CA 95060
# 831-336-2558 jeffl@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us
# http://802.11junk.com jeffl@cruzio.com
# http://www.LearnByDestroying.com AE6KS