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I’ve never had much use for individuals who were being evicted. Simply due to the fact that in most cases the individuals being evicted are either drugies, criminals, lazy people who refuse to work, or simply irresponsible individuals. I’ve always figured it was bad money management or a lack of money due to the choices they made in there life.
and I am sure that most cases this assessment would be correct. However I now find myself being evicted. And I was quite surprised when I received the paperwork. You see I was not behind in my rent. I was not on bad terms with the owner of the property. I was the property manager. I had a good relationship with the owner and a professional relationship with the tenants.
What I did not know was that the apartment complex was located on two plots of land. On one of these plots there were two illegal units and four legal units. That was rented out as apartments. And on the other plot of land there was one illegal unit and three legal units. And all it took was for the owner to hire one unlicensed contractor to come in and perform a service on one of the illegal units. At that point the tenant was upset at the poor workmanship. The tenant called code enforcement, and the next thing you now were being told by code enforcement that our unit is an illegal garage conversion. I call the owner and inform her of the situation, she immediately terminates the tenancy of everyone involved directly or indirectly. She then tells me my rent has just gone up an extra 200.00 dollars and hands me a three day notice to pay the money or quit. Then 10 days later she hands me another three day notice, and this time she informs me that my rent just went up an additional 25.00. Now that a 225.00 hike in rent in 10 days. When I asked her when she intended to compensate me for the material I purchased out of my own pocket for the rehab of one of her rentals while she was in Los Vegas for thanksgiving, she said that she never authorized that action and she wasn’t paying for that. So I am in a real pickle, not only do I not owe her a dime, but she owes me money. And to top the whole thing off, I was served with an unlawful detained yesterday.
When I first moved in I was in one of the legal units according to the diagram I received from the code enforcement. However after about a year of tenancy, the owner offered me and my family a bigger unit on the property, and it was this unit that is one of the illegal units. I have been in this unit for four months now. And you cannot tell by looking at it that it was ever a garage.
Any advice or comments would be welcome.
Liability on illegal units is sketchy. Insurance co.s will not pay for liability claims if codes are not correct. Sounds like the landlord wants everybody out so she can either correct the code problems or sell the the bldg.
OR, she is nuts and is just trying to retaliate by getting rid of everyone.
BTW, code enforcement can drive anyone nuts. Competent people at code enforcement are difficult to get in contact with, making it difficult to understand exactly what can be done to remedy any problems. The paperwork they send to the owners are sometimes handwritten or in legalese that makes no sense.
Some code enforcement people only want properties to be safe. Others are stubborn and can want corrections that are economically not possible.
Just as an example to their insanity: I was cited 2 years ago for having improperly matched paint. THe south facing wall of a bldg was faded after a few years, so the other walls that didn't get as much sun didn't match perfectly. Code enforcement wanted me to paint the entire bldg so the color matched. They wanted me to spend over $15,000 because of faded paint. 2 years later I am still having this issue with them. Faded paint is hardly a safety issue.
I’ve never had much use for individuals who were being evicted. Simply due to the fact that in most cases the individuals being evicted are either drugies, criminals, lazy people who refuse to work, or simply irresponsible individuals. I’ve always figured it was bad money management or a lack of money due to the choices they made in there life.
and I am sure that most cases this assessment would be correct. However I now find myself being evicted. And I was quite surprised when I received the paperwork. You see I was not behind in my rent. I was not on bad terms with the owner of the property. I was the property manager. I had a good relationship with the owner and a professional relationship with the tenants.
What I did not know was that the apartment complex was located on two plots of land. On one of these plots there were two illegal units and four legal units. That was rented out as apartments. And on the other plot of land there was one illegal unit and three legal units. And all it took was for the owner to hire one unlicensed contractor to come in and perform a service on one of the illegal units. At that point the tenant was upset at the poor workmanship. The tenant called code enforcement, and the next thing you now were being told by code enforcement that our unit is an illegal garage conversion. I call the owner and inform her of the situation, she immediately terminates the tenancy of everyone involved directly or indirectly. She then tells me my rent has just gone up an extra 200.00 dollars and hands me a three day notice to pay the money or quit. Then 10 days later she hands me another three day notice, and this time she informs me that my rent just went up an additional 25.00. Now that a 225.00 hike in rent in 10 days. When I asked her when she intended to compensate me for the material I purchased out of my own pocket for the rehab of one of her rentals while she was in Los Vegas for thanksgiving, she said that she never authorized that action and she wasn’t paying for that. So I am in a real pickle, not only do I not owe her a dime, but she owes me money. And to top the whole thing off, I was served with an unlawful detained yesterday.
When I first moved in I was in one of the legal units according to the diagram I received from the code enforcement. However after about a year of tenancy, the owner offered me and my family a bigger unit on the property, and it was this unit that is one of the illegal units. I have been in this unit for four months now. And you cannot tell by looking at it that it was ever a garage.
Any advice or comments would be welcome.
(1)Did she give you 30 day notice of the first rent increase
(2)Did she give you an additional 30 notice for the second increase ??
(3)As manager do you have document giving you permission to purchase needed material for the needed repaires when she is out of town??
These are your defences at the unlawful detainer hearing . She has to give you proper notice and it sounds like she just demanded it from you verbally. as a former property manager you can't do it that way Judge won't allow it. good luck .
Fighter is correct.
ALso,Did you speak to her to see what is going on? Maybe you can work something out. It sounds like something is going on with her that she doesn't know how to handle.
I’ve never had much use for individuals who were being evicted. Simply due to the fact that in most cases the individuals being evicted are either drugies, criminals, lazy people who refuse to work, or simply irresponsible individuals. I’ve always figured it was bad money management or a lack of money due to the choices they made in there life.
and I am sure that most cases this assessment would be correct. However I now find myself being evicted. And I was quite surprised when I received the paperwork. You see I was not behind in my rent. I was not on bad terms with the owner of the property. I was the property manager. I had a good relationship with the owner and a professional relationship with the tenants.
What I did not know was that the apartment complex was located on two plots of land. On one of these plots there were two illegal units and four legal units. That was rented out as apartments. And on the other plot of land there was one illegal unit and three legal units. And all it took was for the owner to hire one unlicensed contractor to come in and perform a service on one of the illegal units. At that point the tenant was upset at the poor workmanship. The tenant called code enforcement, and the next thing you now were being told by code enforcement that our unit is an illegal garage conversion. I call the owner and inform her of the situation, she immediately terminates the tenancy of everyone involved directly or indirectly. She then tells me my rent has just gone up an extra 200.00 dollars and hands me a three day notice to pay the money or quit. Then 10 days later she hands me another three day notice, and this time she informs me that my rent just went up an additional 25.00. Now that a 225.00 hike in rent in 10 days. When I asked her when she intended to compensate me for the material I purchased out of my own pocket for the rehab of one of her rentals while she was in Los Vegas for thanksgiving, she said that she never authorized that action and she wasn’t paying for that. So I am in a real pickle, not only do I not owe her a dime, but she owes me money. And to top the whole thing off, I was served with an unlawful detained yesterday.
When I first moved in I was in one of the legal units according to the diagram I received from the code enforcement. However after about a year of tenancy, the owner offered me and my family a bigger unit on the property, and it was this unit that is one of the illegal units. I have been in this unit for four months now. And you cannot tell by looking at it that it was ever a garage.
Any advice or comments would be welcome.
Tenant-Landlord Law in California favors the tenant, it sounds like the owner doesn`t exercise due diligence in dealing with you. 30 day notice is required for any rent increase...a landlord(owner) who does retaliate by increasing rent is liable under California Law....looks like she just did that!..you have a good case...call Fair Housing...Good Luck!!
First I would like to thank everyone or their post. Well let’s answer a few questions.
Fighter1:
1: No there was no 30 day notice given for the first rent increase.
2: There was no 30 day notice given for the second rent increase.
3: and no I have no documentation giving me permission to purchase material while she’s out of town. And I know I should have obtained said documentation. It was a vacant unit that needed a resurface of plywood on the floor. She wanted done by the time she returned, and at that time I trusted her to compensate reimburse me. She had reimbursed me on prior occasions so I had no idea this time would be different. Ill probably eat the cost though. I do have receipts, and digital pictures of the installed plywood.
Bennyphoenix:
Yes I have called her and talked to her. I have offered to assist her in anyway I can. And I have asked her if there was anything I did wrong or something that she thinks I should of done that I didn’t do.
She then informs me that she is tired of dealing with human trash and low life’s. She then states that she is a business woman and that she knows the score, she then tells me that all the low life’s are getting papers in the mail and there credit is going to be #%&*. Then she started talking about how the tenants didn’t have the money to screw with her, and that she was going to let her lawyer handle it. Again I asked her what the problem was and she hung up on me.
Well I decided to talk to an attorney, and I am told I have a good defense. But man its going to be strange. I mean I am just a normal guy. I have no law degree, and I am going to be going up against her attorney. I’m not looking forward to this one.
First I would like to thank everyone or their post. Well let’s answer a few questions.
Fighter1:
1: No there was no 30 day notice given for the first rent increase.
2: There was no 30 day notice given for the second rent increase.
3: and no I have no documentation giving me permission to purchase material while she’s out of town. And I know I should have obtained said documentation. It was a vacant unit that needed a resurface of plywood on the floor. She wanted done by the time she returned, and at that time I trusted her to compensate reimburse me. She had reimbursed me on prior occasions so I had no idea this time would be different. Ill probably eat the cost though. I do have receipts, and digital pictures of the installed plywood.
Bennyphoenix:
Yes I have called her and talked to her. I have offered to assist her in anyway I can. And I have asked her if there was anything I did wrong or something that she thinks I should of done that I didn’t do.
She then informs me that she is tired of dealing with human trash and low life’s. She then states that she is a business woman and that she knows the score, she then tells me that all the low life’s are getting papers in the mail and there credit is going to be #%&*. Then she started talking about how the tenants didn’t have the money to screw with her, and that she was going to let her lawyer handle it. Again I asked her what the problem was and she hung up on me.
Well I decided to talk to an attorney, and I am told I have a good defense. But man its going to be strange. I mean I am just a normal guy. I have no law degree, and I am going to be going up against her attorney. I’m not looking forward to this one.
You may have strong legal standing. But, it may be easier and cheaper for you to just move.
That lady sounds like she is, from your description, burned out from owning that bldg.
Best wishes.
I hope everything works out well for you for the new year.
Stop paying rent. Don't pay the landlord a dime. Because you are in an illegal dwelling they have no legal bearing to charge you rent. They are breaking the law. Unless it's a cash deal no one can buy these properties no mortgage company will loan on a house not up to FHA standards. If you are not comfortable with not paying rent open upa separate bank account and place the money you would pay for rent there. That way you will have money for your next apartment because you will not get your deposit back. But you can sue your landlord for it and win because again it is an illegal dwelling and by law the landlord can't charge rent for it. I'll also bet you that the landlord is defaulting on their mortgage and putting your rent money in their pocket.
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