Shady landlord threatens eviction - can we negotiate to break the lease? (Los Angeles: apartment)

[Chibitotorooo]

Hello,

I am new to this forum, and very scared right now.

My companion moved to a studio in Los Angeles in January, and I came to visit him (I am from Europe); I was supposed to go home, but he proposed, we got married, and I applied for permanent residency.

We got married in April, and then asked the landlord to add me as a legal tenant, so we could officially prove the immigration authorities that we are living as husband and wife. I provided them with the paperwork they asked for and a copy of my passport, and our rent went up by 10%.

It's September now, and I still haven't received any documents to sign! Everytime we call they tell us they will mail the lease "tomorrow", and there is no talking to the boss.

The manager also told us that although the lease did not allow pets, we could keep a cat if we kept him inside - so we did. A LOT of tenants in this building have pets too. Now someone told on us and we just received a notice to get rid of the pets within 30 days or get evicted. I immediately called their office to ask about the lease that was supposed to be mailed "tomorrow" for the past three months, and the lady claimed she did not have an application for rent from me, and that without it she could not do anything...

I have the nasty feeling that they are trying to get as much money from us as they can, and then evict us, without my ever signing this lease that I need as proof for my immigration interview in October... and it's not like service is perfect here - we had at least a good 20 ant invasions during the summer, a massive flood due to a blocked pipe that drowned our bathroom under 10 inches of water and human waste, about 7 overnight power shortages in ONLY our apartment over the past three months - no A/C or fans in the crazy heat, food spoiled in the freezer every time...

What can we do against this definitely shady company? Surely what they do is not legal! Is there anything we can threaten them with so they will let us break the lease and move in 30 days without evicting us (and keeping our deposit)?

Let me just add that our apartment is probably the best-kept in the building - the cat did not damage a single thing, I am a neat-freak so it does not smell, and is probably cleaner now than we first moved in... so they won't be able to claim we damaged it to keep the deposit. Also, getting rid of the cat is NOT an option

If anyone can help... any suggestions or advice will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you in advance!

Nini

[Beth56]

I don't have an answer to your problem, but I will tell you this. Every time you communicate with your landlord, do so in writing. Send by certified mail with return receipt. This keeps a legal record for you of any correspondence between you. Also, take pictures now of everything in your apartment. When and if you move, take more pictures. You will need this in case they try and keep your deposit saying there were damages. If other tenants have animals, take pictures of them too. Take pictures of everything if you are worried. When your lease says no pets and the landlord says you can have one, you better get it in writing from the landlord.

Good luck on this. Beth

[Luke9686]

I agree with Beth. Unfortunately, your lease says no pets. You got a verbal from the landlord, but if it is not in writing, the lease has the authority. Now I doubt someone would evict you for having a cat.

It is not easy to evict someone, especially in California. It would cost them a lot of money just to evict you for a cat, so I doubt that will happen.

Now for the other issues, CONTACT AN ATTORNEY. That is the best and only advice I can give you. Don't leave the future of you and your spouse in the hands of a shady landlord. Call and attorney and see what you can do.