3 day notice, please someone help PLEASE (August: apartment, leasing, eviction)

[soccerash21]

Hi all,

So I am having massive anxiety attacks right now. My fiance lost his job back in Feb. His company filed bankruptcy, so he was stuck on unemployment, and I am a full time college student. His unemployment covered our rent and bills, so we were fine. The last week of September he finally was offered a job. We explained to someone in our leasing office that he was coming off of unemployment, and that his first paycheck would probably take a few weeks. The person we spoke with said no problem, and that they don't usually do anything until after 30 days with no paid rent. Apparently they were wrong. There was a 3 day notice on our door. So 3 days from today would be Monday, as I assume weekends count. He is getting his check deposited into his account at 12AM on Wednesday. We have never been late on rent, and only are stuck in this situation because he switched from unemployment, so therefore those checks stopped, and he now had to wait for his checks from work to kick in. I am BEYOND freaked out. If we go in tomorrow to talk to the landlord, do you think he will be okay after we explain what is going on? I mean it's not like we're saying "sorry, can't pay." We're saying it can be paid a few days after the 3 day period. & I totally totally understand the landlords perspective. But I mean are there situations with this where sometimes they can decide what they want to do? Or once they give us this 3 day letter is it already filed or something with a court and we're screwed? I have never had this happen, so I don't know anything about it or what to expect. But we are literally stuck until his check gets deposited on Wednesday, and I am on the verge of a panic attack over this. Any ideas? Thank you

[24hr7]

How long have you lived there? (this matters because over a year means they gotta give a 60 days notice)
Have they served you with any prior notice such as pay or quit notice?
What is the details of your contract? Is there a contract? Is this a cash under the table type of rent
Have you documented the day, whom you spoke with? regarding your rent extension request
Are you renting from a corporation? property management company? or some person ?
Are you renting apartment, house or a room?

Documentation is the key, if they promised you something then I don't believe 3 days notice is appropriate. If they are giving you are 3 days notice they should have some documentation or prior notice paper provided to you.

I sense something is weird with all the facts given the odd approach. I would consider contact an attorney for a free consultation if you feel you are wrongfully being evicted, misrepresentation from property management, or improper paper trail regarding tenant rights.

Based on the information you have provided which you have never been late on rent, proactive with communication in terms of rent arrangement. 3 days eviction notice is unreasonable and perhaps illegal.

[soccerash21]

Originally Posted by 24hr7

How long have you lived there? (this matters because over a year means they gotta give a 60 days notice)
Have they served you with any prior notice such as pay or quit notice?
What is the details of your contract?
Have you documented the day, whom you spoke with? regarding your rent extension request
Documentation is the key, if they promised you something then I don't believe 3 days notice is appropriate. If they are giving you are 3 days notice they should have some documentation or prior notice paper provided to you.

I sense something is weird with all the facts given the odd approach. I would consider contact an attorney for a free consultation if you feel you are wrongfully being evicted, misrepresentation from property management, or improper paper trail regarding tenant rights.

Based on the information you have provided which you have never been late on rent, proactive with communication in terms of rent arrangement. 3 days eviction notice is unreasonable and perhaps illegal.

Hi,
We moved in here at the end of August, so we haven't been here very long. We moved from the south bay because our rent over there went way up, so we choose to come out this way because we figured he would be based somewhere near the valley for work. So while we have only been here since August, we still haven't been late, and have never had a problem like this. No, they have not served us with any other papers. This letter was just folded onto our door and it states that if we don't pay after the 3 days, we will be forced to give up property and taken to court. When we went into talk to the office about being late due to his change of work, we did not get anything written down. It was not anything we thought of because we have never had this happen before. Stupid now, I am well aware. They just said "We don't typically do anything until rent is 30 days late." So we figured we were fine. Now apparently I know to get everything in writing. and again, I can completely understand where the landlord comes off and where he stands on it. But we are only late because his checks are delayed because he switched from unemployment and into a job. I was just wondering if landlords are ever willing to work with tenants in situations like this? or if because we haven't been here very long, they'll just be like "sorry, screw off." Ugh. This is the worst feeling ever. I feel like I need to just go move to the side of the 118 =(

[RoaminRebel]

I thought landlords had to provide at least 30 days notice??

[24hr7]

You haven't answer my questions regarding contracts established terms in writing. Landlords can't just do whatever they want even if they draft their own contract. There are California state laws that governs basic tenant rights. I don't know why the landlord is being unreasonable, I mean you guys could have written them a check and ask if it is ok to put the date one week out before it can be deposited. So if your check bounced then you have acted in bad faith therefore subject to further filing action by landlord.

Anyway, sounds like they are not doing things properly unless you signed a contract that stated you are subjected to eviction if payment is 3 days late. Also sounds like they said they would start the eviction filing process after 3 days which could take a while to process and approve by the court. At that time you should have another 30 days to move your stuff before they can change the locks. The eviction process is not as simple what these people are trying to present to you.

Also you haven't answered my question whether these people are a corporation, property management company, or some uninformed owners.

They can't just fold any paper and stuck it under your door. They have to fill out a proper form with formats stating how long you are behind on rent (which is not your case) and how much you have to pay by what date or quit the property within certain amount of days. Once you fail to comply with the terms served pay or quit then they can start the eviction filing. These landlords haven't been sued that is why they are behaving this way.

Yes you should go in and talk to someone in management or a decision maker instead of regular staff. Explain the situation and offer to give them a check with the deposit date 6 days after rent is due. They can hold on to the check first. Document the date and the person name. If they accept your check means they accepted your proposal. I don't see why they wouldn't accept this proposal unless there is something else going on that you haven't mentioned. If everything you have said is correct then I would not worry too much about it. Basically you will be paying rent a week late, this happens all the time and people sometimes ended up paying a late fee. People don't get evicted with 3 days notice because they are 3 days or one week late on rent.

[DaniellaG]

I am not sure the laws on this issue and landlords vary but I think being honest with them and going in the office to talk to them is the best you can do. At least you are facing the problem and hopefully the LL will see that you are

[soccerash21]

Hey guys,

Thank you all for your help! We went in and talked to our leasing office. Apparently the landlord of this complex doesn't even live in this state!! So we couldn't talk to him. The office was pretty much useless, BUT it all worked out because my fiances check was deposited earlier then it was supposed to be. We got very lucky. It's still crazy to me that they only give you a 3 day period after rent is late to come up with the money. I used to live in Illinois, and they gave you 30 days! Guess thats just another wonderful thing about California.

Thanks again everyone!!

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

I have no idea what other states do. In California, with every place I have rented, rent is due on the 1st and in every case the rental agreement stated that fact. All of them would place a pay or quit notice on your door giving you 3 days to pay or quit. That is normally the first step before the eviction process starts. The eviction can take a month or more.

Just wondering, in Illinois if you are 30 days late, do you pay 2 months rent the next month?

[rgb123]

rent is due on the first and then its considered "late" after the 3rd or 6th depending on the leases I've seen. They don't harass you until after it's late (if you haven't spoken with them). I've never lived somewhere that didn't have a grace period after the 1st.

[Galaxie Girl]

Originally Posted by soccerash21

Hey guys,

Thank you all for your help! We went in and talked to our leasing office. Apparently the landlord of this complex doesn't even live in this state!! So we couldn't talk to him. The office was pretty much useless, BUT it all worked out because my fiances check was deposited earlier then it was supposed to be. We got very lucky. It's still crazy to me that they only give you a 3 day period after rent is late to come up with the money. I used to live in Illinois, and they gave you 30 days! Guess thats just another wonderful thing about California.

Thanks again everyone!!

I don't know what 24hr7 and RoaminRebel were talking about, perhaps they were mixed up - 30 day and 60 day notices are for termination of tenancy, NOT for late rent. If you're late on rent, it's a 3 day notice to pay or quit ("quit" means to vacate the unit). That's common in most states (AZ is 5 days, though). I just looked up Illinois, and it's also a 5 day notice (not 30). It's completely unreasonable to expect a landlord to let a tenant live in the unit for a month rent-free before being allowed to commence an eviction. 3 to 5 days is completely reasonable and not crazy at all - you signed the rental contract, so you knew for at least the past month that rent was due on the first, and had time to plan accordingly. Would you let your employer not pay you for days or weeks past payday? It's the same idea.

Hopefully you got a receipt for your rent check to show you paid it. Also, fyi, on the off chance that your fiance's paycheck funds won't be available when the landlord cashes the check, you'll bounce your check and be subject to a NSF fee and late fee if your landlord decides to charge you for those items, but if you got a receipt, at least they can't claim you never paid and then try to evict you.

Glad it all worked out for you. In the future, if you're in dire need of help, you can always borrow from friends/family to avoid paying rent late or getting evicted. You do NOT want an eviction on your record!