Our Landlord is losing his house...advice please (Los Angeles, Sacramento: rental, eviction)

[JenninLA]

My husband went out to the car to get something one night and discovered 3 Sherriffs and some other people standing on the sidewalk looking at the house. They asked him who he is and informed him that our landlord does not own the place. They said it was sold a month BEFORE we moved in and the new owners came to see what was happening with THEIR house.

When we finally got in touch with our landlord he knew nothing about it. He now says his business partner (who it turns out was using a false identity) had not been paying the mortgage with the money we'd been paying as rent.
We've been given no official information as to what is going on but we're already looking for a new house. Which isn't easy...most people are selling and not renting in this neighbourhood. We just want to stay here so our daughter can remain in her preschool.

My questions are
How much notice must they give us when we're finally told to leave? We've been here only 4 months might we have 30 days, 60 days, a week?
What are our rights here in CA?
How do I find out more information about what is going on with this house, who owns it, what the plans are for it etc? I don't know whether to trust the info I'm getting from the landlord.


We originally paid first and last months rent up front with no deposit as the landlord intended to sell the house after 6 months anyway, I'm curious to know what happened to all the money we paid?

Has this happened to anyone before?

I'd love some advice.

thanks for reading
",)

[bhcompy]

well, for one, you have a fraud case on your hands and should contact a lawyer. you should be able to get all of your money back if the perp can be caught and found liable. well, most likely you won't get your money back, but if he has assets you may see something and if he's convicted at least you have the peace of mind that he has been punished for it

[Drover]

To find out who actually owns the house, go to the county recorder of deeds and ask them how to find the last recorded deed transfer on the property. That may be available online.

As for how much notice you have... if there was in fact a bona fide purchaser and the purchase was made before your lease went into effect, you are pretty much at the mercy of the present owner. This isn't an eviction action since you are not a valid leaseholder, so the usual notice-of-eviction statutes are not applicable. You are, for all intents and purposes, a trespasser, and you are already on notice to vacate the property. The owner can take enforcement action at their discretion. Given your special circumstances, you might be able to sue for a temporary injunction while you make other arrangements. But I'd get packin' and start looking, like, yesterday.

As for getting your money back, the only money you'd be entitled to get back is the last month's rent. It would probably cost you more in legal fees than you're actually owed. Sorry to say this, but it may be that your best course of action is to kiss that money goodbye. If you're lucky, your sort-of landlord will return it as an act of decency.

[Brandon26pdx]

Free advice: Next time you're looking to rent a house from an individual owner, check with the county recorders office to make sure the dude actually owns the place.

...his business partner is the kink....riiiight.

Sorry this happened to you.

[onechase]

Do as follows:

1. Find out who really owns the place from the county recorder.

2. Dig out your lease.

3. Contact the actual owner and explain that you were leased the property and you have been paying rent. Make sure they know who the bad guy is and that it's not you. Ask if they would like to assume the lease. If not, tell them that you are prepared to keep paying rent until you find a new place. I think 30 days is reasonable. You might ask for 60. See what they say. You never know.

4. Contact your "landlord" and demand your last month's rent be returned by bank check delivered to you within 3 days. Your "landlord" is guilty of rent skimming, which is illegal in California. If he or she puts up resistance, explain that they have been collecting rent illegally and that you are prepared to cooperate with the sheriff's investigation. (What sheriff's investigation? Who cares?)

5. Unless the actual owner agrees to let you stay, you can and probably will be evicted. In California this is a complicated process and takes time-- at least 90 days. So I'd start looking for a new place ASAP, and be happy that your kid is just in preschool and moving to a new neighborhood won't mean taking him or her away from all of her friends and memories.

Hope this helps. This is not legal advice. You may want to consider hiring an attorney.

[Christine Joan]

Here are a couple of government agencies that might be able to help you to sort through this problem and come up with some answers:

Los Angeles County Department of Consumer Affairs
500 West Temple Street, Room B-96
Los Angeles, CA 90012-2706
(213) 974-1452
(800) 593-8222
L.A. County Department of Consumer Affairs Main Page

Department of Consumer Affairs
1625 North Market Boulevard
Sacramento, CA 95834
(916) 445-1254 TDD (916) 322-1700
(800) 952-5210 TDD (800) 326-2297
Home - California Department of Consumer Affairs

My limited understanding is that in order for a person to be a landlord, the person or business, must first own the property. Thus, you really need to find out who owned the property when you signed the lease. I think the Los Angeles County public library has Lexis available and on Lexis, it is possible to type in a property address and find out who is the current owner; however, I don't know if you can search backwards to find out who was the owner on a particular date. You might want to call the Los Angeles County Public Law Library (213) 629-3531 and ask to speak to a reference/research librarian and ask if they can do a search on the computer to find out who owned the property on the date you signed your lease or if they know how you can find out that information.

You appear to be the victims of fraud. The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office might be interested in prosecuting this case if you report the fraud to the Sheriff's Department or your local police station.

I like the poster's ideas about trying to work something out with the new owner, as the new owner is probably just as confused about this situation as you are right now.

Also, if the current person you are sending rent to does not agree to refund your last month's rent and any deposit you paid, you can take the person to small claim's court. However, if the District Attorney prosecutes this person and convicts him/her of fraud, the court can award victim restitution as part of a person's sentence.

None of this is legal advice, so please consult with an attorney or contact the agencies listed above for legal advice.

[CESpeed]

Unfortunately I'm not an attornry either, but my family used to own property and I've been evicted a couple of times so here's my two cents: 1) They cannot just put you out on the street. They do have to go through an eviction process which takes about two months. Contact Legal Aid or an attorney IMMEDIATELY! You do have rights.

Right now, you have "right of possession". You moved in on a "good faith" basis.

File a report with the District Attorney's office. Find out who the purchaser is and tell them your story. There is a possiblity they wanted a rental property and may allow you to stay. I'm pretty sure that when they found out about you, they contacted their realtor and attorney.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by CESpeed

Unfortunately I'm not an attornry either, but my family used to own property and I've been evicted a couple of times so here's my two cents: 1) They cannot just put you out on the street. They do have to go through an eviction process which takes about two months. Contact Legal Aid or an attorney IMMEDIATELY! You do have rights.

Right now, you have "right of possession". You moved in on a "good faith" basis.

You're basing your analysis on the laws that apply to a valid leaseholder, and it appears there is a very real possibility that she is not. If there was a deed transfer before the lease was signed, she is a trespasser and standard landlord/tenant law does not apply; she doesn't even have the rights that a holdover tenant has.

A party on notice that they are a trespasser and who knows they have no valid claim to title has no right of possession. The OP now has constructive notice that she is a trespasser, even if she initially occupied the premises in good faith. She is subject to immediate ejectment at the discretion of the new owner. Finding out who that owner is and working something out with them is the most advisable course of action.

[Christine Joan]

I forgot to mention that if you file a complaint at your local sheriff's office or police department in Altadena, they have computers and most likely have resources available to them to determine who owned the house on the date that you signed the lease. They would also be able to find out the name and address of the current owner so that you can begin to try to negotiate with them.

Also, if I was you, I would keep all of the receipts and track all expenses related to having to move, if you have to move, because these might be reimbursable expenses, in any future litigation or negotiation of a settlement that you enter into with the current alleged "landlord." The new owner might have a claim to the rent that you have already paid the alleged landlord, but you might be entitled to that money back too, if the person had no authority to rent the home to you when you signed the lease.

Again, I highly suggest that you contact an attorney experienced in landlord tenant law or contact a governmental agency, such as the local police department or Consumer Affairs agencies.

Best wishes, and sorry this happened to you.

[VLWH]

Correct me if i'm wrong, you said you have been there four months and the person you rented from was planning on selling the place in six months. So if you have a six month lease, did you plan on moving in the next two months? If so, contact the new owner and explain to them your situation and offer to pay them whatever you were paying the old owner. Not sure of the legal area on this issue, I would think it would take about sixty days to evict you anyway and this would save the new owner the time and expense of evicting you and they'll make some money out of the deal.

Not sure about the money you paid already. Since you have been living there and paying the agreed amount, it seems the new owner would be entitled to the money you paid.