Welcome to the Landlord School of Hard Knocks. Been there. Expensive lesson, but don’t give up. Even if you did everything right, a Professional Tenant knows how make $ off a new landlord. And CA is making that easier for them with AB1482.

Might be too late for “cash for keys”. What do other Piggs think?

Wondering if your tenant has gone to the tenant lawyer in town? FWIW, I stayed away from the property once the tenant accusations started, to avoid retaliation claims.

It depends on the type of tenants your new property draws. After bringing in my own tenant once, I eventually hired a new property manager as “insurance” and a buffer against any bad tenants going forward. (as the previous PM’s wife later told me, “I had a bad feeling about those tenants” but leased it to them anyway. I found out later that that PM allowed bankruptcies if everything else–deposit, income, job longevity–was A’OK.).

If I were you, I’d go directly to one of the big landlord(only) law firms in town, listed at the Southern Calif. Rental Housing Assoc (formerly SD County Apt. Assoc). The big firms do this stuff all day long. I had a bad experience with a supposed landlord-only smaller firm. Waste of money.

You didn’t elaborate on the purchase contract/leasing of vacated side, but something about that transaction/timing seems odd.

I think you’re going down the right path to get an individual opinion from the experts. But what do I know?