California Legal Brief

The Rule of Colonial Manor, Inc. v. Vilma Reyes is that a surviving spouse who occupied a rent-controlled unit as a lawful occupant with the landlord's knowledge becomes an at-will tenant by implied agreement upon the original tenant's death and remains protected by local rent control ordinances, under circumstances where the spouse lived in the unit for at least one year before marriage, the landlord was aware of the occupancy, and no sublease agreement existed between the spouses.

Appeal from judgment after court trial on stipulated facts in Superior Court, Los Angeles County.

Plaintiff Appellant was Colonial Manor, Inc. — the landlord seeking to evict defendant and increase rent from $669 to $3,500 per month following the original tenant's death.

Defendant Respondent was Vilma Reyes — the surviving spouse of the original tenant who had lived in the rent-controlled unit as a caregiver and later as spouse.

The suit sounded in unlawful detainer. The City of Santa Monica filed a related tenant harassment action involving the same attempted eviction.

The key substantive facts leading to the suit were: Milton Reyes was the original tenant paying $666/month rent; defendant lived with Milton for at least one year before they married on February 26, 2022; Milton died on September 8, 2023; defendant never paid rent to Milton or entered any agreement for transfer of his leasehold interest; plaintiff was aware of defendant's residency since at least 2021 as Milton's caregiver; on November 15, 2023, plaintiff served a Notice of Change of Tenancy increasing rent to $3,500/month; the Santa Monica Rent Control Charter Amendment permitted maximum rent of $669/month for the unit.

The procedural result leading to the Appeal: The trial court entered judgment in favor of defendant for possession of the premises, ruling that defendant was not a sublessee or assignee, the plain language and legislative history of Civil Code section 1954.53 did not authorize unlimited rent increase against the spouse of the original occupant, defendant was a tenant rather than subtenant, and the three-day notice overstated the rent due under the SMRCCA making it defective.

The key questions on Appeal: 1. Whether the tenancy terminated by operation of law 30 days after the last rent payment by Milton Reyes 2. Whether the Santa Monica Rent Control Charter Amendment was preempted by Civil Code section 1954.53 (Costa-Hawkins Act) 3. Whether plaintiff was authorized to raise rent without limit pursuant to section 1954.53 following Milton's death 4. Whether section 1806(c) of the SMRCCA limits rent increases for a surviving spouse who was not an authorized occupant

The Appellate Court held that defendant was an at-will tenant pursuant to an implied tenancy created by her long-term lawful occupancy with plaintiff's knowledge, not a sublessee subject to rent decontrol under Costa-Hawkins section 1954.53(d)(2), and the SMRCCA was not preempted by state law because defendant did not fall within the narrow parameters of Costa-Hawkins allowing unlimited rent increases, making the 425% rent increase unlawful and the three-day notice fatally defective for overstating rent due.

The case is inapplicable when the surviving spouse was not a lawful occupant known to the landlord, when there is an actual sublease agreement between spouses creating a sublessee relationship, when the spouse did not reside in the unit for the required time period under local ordinance, or when no local rent control protections exist.

The case leaves open whether a landlord may evict a subtenant or occupant who occupied premises without the landlord's agreement or knowledge and seeks to remain after departure of all persons to whose occupancy the landlord consented, and the precise requirements for establishing implied tenancy in rent-controlled jurisdictions.