Tenant Advice on Eviction/Invasion p. 1 of 4 (Sanger: real estate, renter)

[90minutes]

[LEFT][LEFT][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Incident 1: Invasion of Privacy and Property[/SIZE][/FONT][/LEFT]
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[LEFT][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]I am a tenant1 of a rental home2 in Sanger, CA. My residency began July 1, 2009. While there have been oral agreements made and broken by both sides, and a current desire by the landlady to have me vacate the home, as of today (3/7/10) I have not been served any papers requiring me to do so (Pay or Quit, UD, etc.)[/SIZE][/FONT][/LEFT]
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[LEFT][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]My landlady- who lives with her husband, son and two daughters on the island of Kauai, Hawaii- showed up unannounced at the gate to my driveway and posted a no trespassing sign at approximately 3pm Friday, March 5th. She proceeded to enter my home and place more signs around the house. She demanded that I vacate the residence immediately, I refused and I asked her to leave.[/SIZE][/FONT][/LEFT]
[LEFT][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] [/SIZE][/FONT][/LEFT]
[LEFT][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]She then went into my bathroom called 9-1-1and reported ‘an intruder’ in her home. By the end of the conversation she had modified her story to my being a renter of one room, on one end of her house, and that I had trapped her in her bathroom.[/SIZE][/FONT][/LEFT]
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[LEFT][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Four sheriffs arrived and proceeded to take statements. She falsely reported a number of her statements including herself being a current resident and, again, the one about my tenancy being restricted to one bedroom only. One deputy asked if she had served the proper paperwork to have me removed and after initially saying ‘yes’ she admitted she had not. He advised her on proper protocol and directed her to take the issue to county clerk. Another deputy then told us that she had the same right to be in the home as I did, that both of us would be staying the night in the home, that we should act as mature adults and not quibble.[/SIZE][/FONT][/LEFT]
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[FONT=Times New Roman]I argued the legality, legitimacy and especially the prudence of knowingly creating a hostile environment ripe for disaster. I asked if I had the right to file a complaint of trespassing, if they would look at our rental contract, and what of the possibility of her calling in another false report. I was told that ‘No, the same laws that you want to use as a defense protect her too,’ and ‘no, we won’t see your contract,’ and ‘well if we get another call and have to come back up here tonight then there will be a problem no matter what!’ Furthermore, he continued to inform me ‘she can have whomever she wants over to visit, her whole family as far as I’m concerned,’ and that ‘you (me) need to move whatever she needs, to make space for her.’ [/FONT]

[Fontucky]

What an unformatted hellish mess.

You left out an important detail: Are you current on your rent?

[90minutes]

Per original written contract, no. While the details, facts and especially the 'he said, she said' statements are a convoluted mess, the documentation I do have via email regarding subsequent oral contracts leads to the answer: it's a judgement call.

[ferretkona]

Take it to court.
She has to proof residency, she will need to show utility bills delivered to her at your address.
Highlighting , font and bold code will not work untill you have 10 posts here.

[coyoteskye]

O.K. ... i'll do it.
You're welcome. (it took about 20 seconds by the way).

The cleaned up (and readable!) version of the original post :

Incident 1: Invasion of Privacy and Property

I am a tenant1 of a rental home2 in Sanger, CA. My residency began July 1, 2009. While there have been oral agreements made and broken by both sides, and a current desire by the landlady to have me vacate the home, as of today (3/7/10) I have not been served any papers requiring me to do so (Pay or Quit, UD, etc.)
My landlady- who lives with her husband, son and two daughters on the island of Kauai, Hawaii- showed up unannounced at the gate to my driveway and posted a no trespassing sign at approximately 3pm Friday, March 5th. She proceeded to enter my home and place more signs around the house. She demanded that I vacate the residence immediately, I refused and I asked her to leave.

She then went into my bathroom called 9-1-1and reported ‘an intruder’ in her home. By the end of the conversation she had modified her story to my being a renter of one room, on one end of her house, and that I had trapped her in her bathroom.

Four sheriffs arrived and proceeded to take statements. She falsely reported a number of her statements including herself being a current resident and, again, the one about my tenancy being restricted to one bedroom only. One deputy asked if she had served the proper paperwork to have me removed and after initially saying ‘yes’ she admitted she had not. He advised her on proper protocol and directed her to take the issue to county clerk. Another deputy then told us that she had the same right to be in the home as I did, that both of us would be staying the night in the home, that we should act as mature adults and not quibble.

I argued the legality, legitimacy and especially the prudence of knowingly creating a hostile environment ripe for disaster. I asked if I had the right to file a complaint of trespassing, if they would look at our rental contract, and what of the possibility of her calling in another false report. I was told that ‘No, the same laws that you want to use as a defense protect her too,’ and ‘no, we won’t see your contract,’ and ‘well if we get another call and have to come back up here tonight then there will be a problem no matter what!’ Furthermore, he continued to inform me ‘she can have whomever she wants over to visit, her whole family as far as I’m concerned,’ and that ‘you (me) need to move whatever she needs, to make space for her.’

[Fontucky]

Originally Posted by coyoteskye

[b]O.K. ... i'll do it.
You're welcome. (it took about 20 seconds by the way).

You are a SAINT. Someone make this lady a moderator, immediately.

[coyoteskye]

Originally Posted by Fontucky

You are a SAINT. Someone make this lady a moderator, immediately.

oh god no.
but thanks.

[bellalunatic]

Originally Posted by 90minutes

Per original written contract, no. While the details, facts and especially the 'he said, she said' statements are a convoluted mess, the documentation I do have via email regarding subsequent oral contracts leads to the answer: it's a judgement call.

What a mess. This is quite the worst case scenario when no one writes and sings everything!

The sheriff department is not well versed in real estate law, that's not their job, no surprise there.

I'm surprised that they weren't pissed about her calling in a false report on 911, they should have been. And just because she owns the home doesn't mean she can just waltz in whenever she darn well pleases, even if you are behind in the rent, that puts her in a harder spot come judgement time with the courts....

How long was your original lease for? How far behind are you in rent?

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

I have never heard of a renter of a home having to share it with the owner, unless you are only renting a room in the home. An owner has the right to check on their property. Normally the owner or owners agent would notify the tennent that they are going to inspect the property. I have never heard of them staying in the home while it was being rented.

Their is a process for eviction and the way your landlord handled it is not the way it is done. I think we the readers of your post are missing something.

Here is the normal way the process works: They can give you at the end of your lease a notice that in a specified number of days, at least 30 if I remember, you will need to leave the property. Even if you have been paying your rent they can do this.

Lets say that you don't pay your rent. The owner of the home can serve you with a 3 day notice to pay or quit. If you choose to stay in the home after the 3 days and still have not paid the rent the owner can then start the eviction process. This is a legal process that includes court documentation, notice to you, and eventual knock on the door from the Sherriff, the building owner or rep of the owner, and more than likely a locksmith. It can take 30 days or more depending on the case load and county that you live in.

As far as I know that is the only way that the home owner can get you our of there. Kind of why I am thinking we are missing something in the story.