California Landlord And Tenant Legal Questions

In your long e-mail, you fail to mention what opposing counsel did, so we can nor answer your question. Nor do we know on what grounds you were being evicted so can not answer whether the judge was correct in excluding your defenses. Without a witness, the judge would not believe the landlord told others to do the things mentioned against you. I suspect the judge probably thought you were just talking at length about irrelevant matters. If you filed an answer without bringing these matters up in the answer, the judge would probably rule you could not do so at trial because you did not give the landlord any notice of the claims so he could not prepare to defend against them. Also, the judge might believe that you could sue the landlord in a separate suit for the harassment but that it was not a defense for not paying rent.... Read More

On what basis does she want access to the bank account? Probably only reason is to steal the money. Point out to her that if she gets access and any money goes missing the police will interrogate her and she may be arrested. You probably have no power under the CC&Rs to grant her access and tell her you would be in legal trouble if you did and the HOA would sue her and slap a lien on her unit. One can always sue anyone, even if there are no grounds. She will not be able to find an attorney who would take her case once they know what she is doing [and she will not want to pay one]. ?She can not state a cause of action against you so you could demurrer and there are books and web sites showing how to do it. Tell her all of this and call her bluff, as you could give her access and she still would sue you.... Read More

Every 6 months there is a new contract and either side can make whatever changes they want to, but the other side can reject the changes. If both sides do not agree to the same terms, there is no lease and the tenants must move out. From the landlord's side, he wants to be able to contact you by e-mail because it is easier and more reliable and know which cars are parked there are not his tenants. You want your privacy, but how much are you willing to give up for it?... Read More

Unless the rental contract states, which I am sure it does not, that your friend has to pay the landlord in person, it does not matter at all who pays the rent. When your mother goes to a store to buy something you pleased on a lay away does the store care who pays for it? Of course not. All that is required is the physical offer to the landlord of the rent, where the landlord is able to take the offer. If that were not the situation, landlords could just refuse to accept money from their tenants and evict them. Moreover, if the landlord keeps the checks and it was a payment for nothing else than the rent, the landlord has been paid the rent, he just has not decided to deposit it into his bank account.... Read More

They had to inform you what the restrictions were on parking. Even had they given you notice of the 10 time limit before towing the car, they would have to enter into a new contract with you for this new restrictions to apply. They might say that your duty to try to reduce any damages [mitigation] would mean you have to move the car once you got notice of the new rule, but they were negligent in not telling you or issuing the same parking permit for two different cars, as you could not know the permit had been used 10 times that month as you were unaware, and there was no reason you should have known, that you shared the number with another car owner. They are liable for the cost of the towing of your vehicle and getting it back, plus a reasonable value for the time you spent getting the car and perhaps even finding out the needed information. You might also be able to charge them for the time involved in preparing and reading this response and the 10-15 minutes I took in typing it up as you had to seek the advice of an attorney to resolve the matter and it does not matter if you actually have to pay the attorney or not. This is an unusual and somewhat weak argument so I would use it only as a element of negotiating with them as to the total compensation. They must also issue you a new car permit number so it does not happen in the future and you should request, although you can require it, that they notify in writing all other tenants of the 10 times parking rule and check their records to see if the same permit number has been recorded for multiple owners. Since their was both a breach of contract and negligence, you could also collect pain and suffering damages for the latter, even though it would not be much.... Read More

It was worded that way so that if at the end of the one year the landlord still wants you as a tenant you become one on a month to month basis. Since you must give 30 days notice to terminate a month to month, 30 days before the year long lease ends you have to give notice to the landlord that you will not renting anymore under any terms.... Read More

You should notify the landlord in writing, keeping a copy of the writing for your records, that the rental unit is infested with roaches, and that you intend to vacate the unit if the problem is not addressed in 10 days. Alternatively, you could withhold rent to the extent of money is used to address the problem yourself, after giving the landlord written notice of an opportunity to correct the infestation.... Read More

If the landlord follows the requirements of the Ca. State Ellis Act and the tenant has only a month to month lease/rental, there is no recourse. If the landlord just gave you a 30 day notice [60 days if you have lived there more than a year], unless you are under rent control laws, you would have no recourse, so why would you if he gives you notice he is taking it off the market? You can not force someone to rent their property out.... Read More

Probably yes, as that is what you agreed to with the lease. If 5 years from now the other tenant leaves, a judge for matters of equity might not enforce the liability. The landlord can not return your portion of the security deposit because he does not know who put up what portion of the money and he is entitled to have the full amount as security. ?Arrange for the landlord to inspect the premises so that any damage after you leave is charged to the other tenant, even though you are liable to the landlord for it.... Read More