California Landlord And Tenant Legal Questions

Since you are two months behind on the payments, you do owe that to the original lender. It is not their fault that the payoff did not occur on time. Whether they can refuse to accept the payoff of the entire loan depends upon the wording of your contract with them. You could pay them the entire amount and they should subtract 2 months of payments and credit the rest to the balance of the mortgage, leaving the sum equal to the two months left to pay.... Read Answer

Most probably, I suspect there issue is that they have to manually read your meter and will not have to do so with the new one. Given affected you and confirmed that it is a town water department I suspect it is the government which you are dealing with, and you should by this time understand that they make the rules and always win the game. It is probably not worth spending $50 to avoid this charge. Sorry.... Read Answer

If the terms of your written mortgage with the lender does not prohibit it, yes. Reverse mortgages are usually only given to elderly homeowners who are making the house their permanent residence and not making it a rental property. Whether your making it a semi-rental property is barred depends solely upon your written contract [the parole evidence rule forbids relying any oral language from changing the terms of the written agreement].... Read Answer

You do not explain the terms of the deposit so we can not give a certain answer. Normally, if a tenant puts down a deposit to rent a place, the landlord is entitled to keep at least that portion that covers the rent lost until another person rents the unit. Sometimes, the agreement also provides some compensation for the time and effort spent to find a new tenant. From what you have said, it does seem the landlord is acting correctly. Once you gave the deposit, he could not try to rent it out until you clearly stated you were not going to move in.... Read Answer

Are you sure that notices on the grounds and to the owners of the units were not given at least many days in advance? That is the normal procedure. ?Posting signs at 3 am does not alert anyone except those who got up and left their units anyway before the paving began. ?Also, how did you not hear the paving work going on? ?Discuss the situation with the manager and then the unit owner.... Read Answer

All contracts are subject to the laws of the state in which the contract is made. In California, both a landlord and a tenant must give the other a notice in writing [I am not sure if there is any case law that a text message qualifies as 'written" but it probably is okay, but why take a chance, send a certified letter] at least thirty days before they wish to terminate a month to month tenancy. That is done so that the tenant getting a notice has at least thirty days to find a new place to rent or a landlord getting the notice has at least thirty days to try to find a new renter. The notice does not have to be at the same time as the lease renews. So if the new month starts the first of the month, on the 15th you can give notice and then leave the 15th of the following month. Since you clearly failed to give proper notice, you have to start over and give a proper 30 day notice. That is only fair.... Read Answer

Your duty is to offer/tender them the rent money. Whether or not they have cashed the check, you have paid. But it makes no sense that they have not deposited the checks so write them a letter asking what is going on and unless they inform you otherwise you will keep sending the rent in as you always have. Send the checks via certified mail and make a copy of them when you send them. It sounds like the owner may have died so no one known what to do with the rent check.... Read Answer

First thing that you should do is invest in a cup of coffee and sit down to talk to your landlord.  Let her know your concerns and try to understand her concerns. I don't understand your point about the utilities.  The landlord can raise your rent.  Period. I don't see the discrimination that you mentioned. Mold is usually no big deal.  Most mold is not toxic and doesn't harm you.  There are mold spores in the air that you and I are breathing right now. If you don't want to be there, you can always move.... Read Answer

Whether they receive mail at the premises or not has nothing to do with their being a tenant. Paying utility bills might make them a tenant, as rent does not have to be only in the form of a fixed dollar amount each month. But who do they pay the utilities to and for what reason? They do not have a legal right to the property [no ownership interest], but may have a tenant's right to stay there subject to the terms of the lease.... Read Answer

You had an oral contract with him which is as sufficient as a written one. Since it was clear that you needed the report by no later than the 9th, he breached a material portion of the contract speed was of the essence so the report is of little or no value to you. A you told him on the 9th that you had not received it but he wanted until the 11th to tell you it had been sent, he still appears to be in breach. There is no apparent reason his report should have gone into your junk mail; has he provided any proof that he actually sent the e-mail [would be very easy for him to prove that] Tell him he is fully in breach, that had he responded on the 9th to your e-mail he might not be in breach but even then it is questionable since you would have to read the report and decide whether to do through with the purchase so even getting it on the 9th might have been too late [how were you supposed to withdraw on the 10th day-mail sufficient or did it have to be by postmarked letter?]. Why did he not re-send the e-mail to you if he thought it had gone to your junk mail? Tell him you want a copy of the report to see if a) it meet the terms of what was required or was defective on its face, and b) had you received it timely if it would have resulted in your cancelling the purchase perhaps he owes you damages [he may argue you could have asked for additional time]. Tell him you are not paying because he breached a material element of the contractual agreement that rendered the report worthless so legally you owe him nothing. Put that in a certified letter and an e-mail. Warn him that if he lies about what happened it is defamation and you can sue him. You might also want to put a negative comment [but sticking exactly to what you can prove] on his web site and tell your realtor what happened so that she/he does not recommend him to others. Then, unless he agrees in writing not to sue, you have to wait the two years he has to sue on an oral contract to see if he will take you to court. You can counter sue for any damages you actually experience.... Read Answer

In California, you are allowed to spend up to one month's rent on paying for repairs [I assume this would qualify] if after giving notice the landlord does not within a reasonable period of time makes the repair [give notice by a certified letter]. You can also complain to the local health department. But you have to be careful, as the landlord may then try to terminate the lease or evict you.... Read Answer

Are you covered by any rent control laws? What does your lease say. Are you a month to month tenant? You have to give us much more information! Why was your unit searched? if the landlord has reason to believe you allowed criminal activity to occur in your unit or on the premises, generally they have the right to give you a three day notice. The landlord does not have to give any reason for not renewing a lease and merely has to give you thirty days written notice [60 days in California if you have lived there at least a year] of non-renewal, just as you can give the same notice to the landlord that you are not going to renew [60 day period does not apply to notice given by tenant to landlord].... Read Answer

Sharing the confidential information is not harassment; you might have a claim for invasion of privacy, but you have not told us the nature of the information the property manager has shared with others and how it causes any damages to you [telling others, for example, what your age, income, etc , are does not really cause any significant damages]. There is no code of ethics for property managers. You have to give us much more information for anyone to guess as to what legal action can be taken and whether it is worth it. Speak to the property owner again and tell him all the details and see if he will take any action; point out that the property manager's behavior may cause you and other tenants to leave [if she does it to you, she will do it to others].... Read Answer

I assume that your property is not subject to rent control.  In a month to month rental, the landlord can change the terms of the tenancy with 30 days written notice to the tenant.  The tenant doesn't have to agree to the change in terms in writing, the notice is enough to change the terms and when the tenant continues in possession of the premises, then he is deemed to have accepted the change in terms.  For a rental increase of less than 10%, the landlord can give a 30 day notice.  For a rental increase of 10% or more, the landlord must give a 60 day notice. You should also give a notice to cancel the 60 day notice that you served previously.... Read Answer

Sure. If you made an agreement, oral or in writing, to co-rent an apartment, you are responsible to the other person for your part of the rent and at least you portion of what damages you caused. Why would you think you are not? The lease is an agreement between the master tenant and the owner of the premises, but you have a separate agreement with the tenant who sub-rented the place or a portion of it to you. and they can go after you for whatever you owe. You had the advantage of living there, why should you not have the obligation of paying?... Read Answer

This seems to be fairly standard HOA language. What it basically means is that once the HOA records the notice of lien, the condo unit is encumbered with the lien and before anyone tries to sell the unit they have to pay off the lien and the HOA costs in enforcing it. Most CC&R's also state that it is considered to be superior to all other liens, such as a mortgage, so that even if the mortgage amount exceeds the fair market value of the property, the HOA still gets first crack at the value of the unit. But unless the bank agrees to that, it is not retroactive if the loan was taken out before notice was filed,so you may need to change the CC&R's so that applies to all future loans. Since the fees are secured by the property, it is a secured debt so not dischargeable [not effected] in bankruptcy. The language means that when the unit is sold, the escrow company must pay the back assessments out of the purchase price and not merely pass the lien along to the new owner so that you can not collect it unless the new owner is willing to pay. You also probably have the right to foreclose on the unit put it up for sale and collect the amounts owed off the top of the sales price.... Read Answer

Since most trailers are made of metal, how does she have termites in the trailer? On what basis do you think the trailer park owner caused the termite infestation? Who owned the trailer before and did they make any type of inspection? How long has she lived in the trailer, when did she buy it, what inspections did she make, etc.... Read Answer