Tenant Calling Code Enforcement

[reford]

My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: California

I have a duplex and one tenant is accusing the other of having people live in the garage. We have spoke to the tenants and they have said they are not having people live in the garage. Just like most garages are used for storage there is a couch in there with washer and dryer and other misc items.
The front tenant is stating that there is body odor coming from the garage and she can smell it in her garage (separate garages with a mutual wall) she states there is a lot of foot traffic and people that are rude to her.
When we told her there isn't anything we can do because we have found no proof of someone living there she said she will take matters into her own hands and call code enforcment.
I understand someone will inspect the property but if they find no proof which I'm absolutly sure of, is there anything I should worry about? there is always a possibility that the back tenants are lying to me even though I've been in the garage myself.

[jk]

If it was me, I would tell the complaining tenant that you have investigated the situation and do not have anything to prove their complaints. As such, there is really nothing you can do (which is entirely true) but should they have any proof of their claims, be sure to give you a call.

Short of terminating the other tenant's lease/rental agreement, if you can without cause because so far you do not have enough to terminate a lease for cause, there is really nothing you can do about this.

the one thing I find odd is:

they are complaining of body odor? Either there is a really stinky person in there, there is some other source of an odor that may need to be investigated, or they need their smellers checked. Odors are not easily disguised or removed. Have you noticed any odors?

[reford]

We pretty much told them that there is no proof and she said that they have pictures of pillows and that after I collect the rent that the place is totally lived in. I don't think the back tenant is lying to me.
I've been to the unit and never have I found an odor. My husband stated that if the back neighbors complained about their dog odor because they have 2 dogs in the garage/backyard then there would be nothing we could do about that either.
It's her just trying to find a justifiable means of getting them out. I know there are certain people that through around words like "sue" and "calling the code enforcement" as a means of pushing buttons or getting me to do more, I just see nothing else to do other than what I've done already.
I suppose that I'm stuck in the agreement with them as well. I don't know how to offer them release of the 1 year lease without making it sound like it's my idea but when my husband said " i hear that your not happy and what would you like us to do", she said to her husband "their asking us to leave". When in fact of course we weren't we are just trying to make a bad situation, tolerable for both parties. I don't see this as ending well and in all my years of being an owner/landlord, I have never dealt with a tenant quite like this before. I know there out there, I guess i just got lucky

[cdwjava]

They can speak to code enforcement all they want. But, unless the code enforcement officers can produce a search warrant or articulate some exigency in order to gain entry, if the tenants refuse them entry, they're done.

A landlord to a rental property has greater rights to inspection than the government.

The other problem is proving that someone is LIVING in the garage as opposed to just hanging out late. That's the problem we have come across with these matters. Proving "residence" can be difficult. Now, if the person who fell asleep in the garage does so frequently, and they receive mail there, then such proof might be made. But, this is not likely something the code enforcement people - or you - are going to spend much time investigating.