Am I allowed to "warn" new tenant at previous rental? (CA) (lease, deposit)
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We recently moved cities, and left a rental which we'd only been in for a year. Our landlord was an unusually difficult person to work with, both during tenancy and now that we're trying to wrap up our deposit return (he's been AWOL for a month since we brought up a shady deduction from our deposit).
He put up a good front with us, played the friendly but forgetful sort. Close to our move, though, it became obvious that that was a calculated choice - he sealed it when he stated after an open house that he "would NEVER rent to [prospective tenant], because she's a lawyer and they know too much."
We won't escalate this to small claims court, but it's become about the principle: he's gone off radar because he assumes we'll have no choice but to drop it (he's right). I want him to be held accountable in some way, because the way he treats tenants is unethical.
Is there any legal reason I shouldn't reach out to the current tenant to let them know how our exit went down? Factually, not emotionally. If we had known, we would have been better able to protect ourselves. My husband is worried there's some slander issue.
If you've been unjustly taken advantage of financially, please take the jackass to small claims court, and get a judgment.
Refusal to pay would ding his credit and maybe (just maybe) help said jackass to behave appropriately with the next victim (read: tenant).
Slander/libel isn't an issue unless the offended party can prove that you spoke ill of him/her to 4 people or more, and that what you said wasn't true. (You'd have to be able to prove your statements about him were true, too.)
If you've been unjustly taken advantage of financially, please take the jackass to small claims court, and get a judgment.
Refusal to pay would ding his credit and maybe (just maybe) help said jackass to behave appropriately with the next victim (read: tenant).
I agree. It's the most effective step to take. Blabbing to a new tenant - however carefully you couch your words - is usually totally ineffectual. If the new tenant has thus far enjoyed a decent relationship with the LL they'll more than likely assume that you were the problem.
Oh, and by the way, the comment the ex landlord made about renting to lawyers is often heard. I've known a few excellent landlords who've had to deal with tenants who were attorneys and they concur that they're a breed to be avoided for the most part with their propensity to turn every simple little thing into a protracted scenario worthy of "Law and Order"!
OP, I suggest that you don't. Perhaps not slander, although you'd have to have irrefutable proof that what you are saying is the truth and not just your own opinion. However, there are damages due to restraint of trade to consider. If you stop the landlord from renting, he has financial damages that you have caused.
Once a new tenant has moved in, you won't accomplish anything; they have already signed the lease. If you sit outside to warn everyone who looks at the unit, to save them from renting from that landlord, it would take a lot of your time.
Your best option is to take the landlord to small claims court and present your case there that you are owed your deposit back.
Are you planning on sitting in front to the place & tell everyone going in to look at it.... other wise I don't see the point.
Well, no... Of course that would be absurd. We have contact info for the new tenant (they signed before we moved out, and we have a cell # for them). So it would amount to a text message or phone call letting them know the specifics of our move-out interaction, so they know how to cover their bases better than we did.
As far as taking him to court, yes I agree that that would be the ideal. We're talking less than $500, and we live 6 hours away and have a young baby, new job, etc. I don't want him to get away with it, but it's not realistic for us to drag him into court proceedings - and he knows it. It seems like arming the current tenants with knowledge is the next best option.
Oh, and by the way, the comment the ex landlord made about renting to lawyers is often heard. I've known a few excellent landlords who've had to deal with tenants who were attorneys and they concur that they're a breed to be avoided for the most part with their propensity to turn every simple little thing into a protracted scenario worthy of "Law and Order"!
And that's no joke!
My first time renting a property (a condo I had moved out of) was to a paralegal. Might as well have been to an attorney b/c she had close to 10 lawyers she got her free (bad) RE legal advice from when she caused an issue and eventually broke the lease 6 months in to buy a house.
One HUGE headache she was.
Thankfully MY attorney specialized in RE and set her personal injury "bosses" straight.
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