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.

The Rule of Colonial Manor, Inc. v. Vilma Reyes is that a landlord cannot enforce an unlawful detainer for rent that exceeds local rent control ceilings, even against a surviving spouse who becomes an implied tenant after the original tenant's death, under circumstances where the spouse was a long-term lawful occupant known to the landlord and Costa-Hawkins does not preempt local rent control protections for implied tenancies.