Landlord refused walk-through and deposit??

Parent Cafe
1

<p>Hi Parents!</p>

<p>I think this is a wonderful community and so informational. I live in California, and recently my landlord did lots of illegal things and now owes me quite alot of money. I was wondering if you had any advice.</p>

<p>Here’s the specifics in the next next paragraph… I’ve only put the facts down. </p>

<p>I rented from a man and his girlfriend. The man lived in a private house. In the Middle of June, he gave me a thirty day’s notice (until mid-july) to move out. He gave me the paper, i signed it, he has no copy. Then, I go on vacation a few days later. He corners me and demands my house keys, “in case you lose it”. Since I will be late for my plane, I give him the house keys. My friend sees my room 1 hour prior to this and there are no damages on the walls or floor. I get back from vacation and it is now three days prior to the end of June. He opens the front door for me, wont give me the house keys. He says he is kicking me out right now, and i can only go into my room to get some clothes. <em>(I take some crappy iphone pics of the room at that time)</em> He says he will terminate my lease end of June instead mid july and give me $100 cash to live in a motel. He won’t let me pack up my stuff! He says his girlfriend will do it and i can pick it up in the driveway in two days (end of june).</p>

<p>I refuse. He says, we’ll then I’ll just take deductions and you will have NO deposit left unless you do as i say.</p>

<p>So i go stay in a motel for a few days with his $100 and in two days my stuff is packed up in the drive way for me. His girlfriend refuses a walk-through, since THEY PACKED UP MY STUFF, AND I CANT SEE THE ROOM AFTERWARDS, i have no idea how the empty room looks like, if they caused damages. I go stay with my boyfriend.</p>

<p>I cancel my half-july’s rent check for him right away.</p>

<p>it has been 24 days and he has refused to pick up all text/calls from me. </p>

<p>My question is,
If he refused a walkthough and he forced his girlfriend to pack up his stuff for me, and then don’t give me my deposit back or pretend like there’s deduction, how can i prove in court they were the last people in there? He Forced me to let his girlfriend pack up his stuff! and i didn’t get to see it before!</p>

<p>What should I do? No deposit, no walkthrough, nothing… :_( I want my money back!</p>

<p>***Side note of juicy details (not facts) : I don’t party, drink, smoke, or even listen to music, nor did i cook there for the handful of months… In reality, this man was OCD-crazy, and is upset with me for not training his dog, not doing my bed, not alphabetizing canned goods, not washing sytrofoam takeout containers with dishsoap and then drying and recycling them, and being away to visit my boyfriend’s house, not giving him my bank account info for direct deposit of rent, i was only allowed to use his utensils and pots and pans, his bed, his sheets, his furniture, etc etc. He made me put my books and everything in storage. I asked him his rules and he lied to me about this, then after I paid rent and deposit, he told me these rules. his other roomate is an international student that does everything he says. She is a communications major with alot of free time to do as he says.</p>

<p>thanks, any advice is greatly appreciated.</p>

2

<p>I am not a lawyer, but I would have gone to the police when he refused entrance to your room. You are entitled to retrieve your personal belongings no matter what. No one can touch your stuff without your permission. Do you have all of your things? Anything broken? Do you have a copy of lease? He can’t kick you out without proper notification.</p>

3

<p>Take him to small claims court and sue him for your money. </p>

<p>While he can give you a 30 day notice, which to leave, if he put your stuff out before the 30 days he may have illegally evicted you. He minimally should have given you access to remove your stuff and when he did not, I agree with oldfort that you should have called the police.</p>

4

<p>Is it legal in CA to rent out rooms if it is a single family home? I just did a bit of search and the answer is yes. These are worth reading
<a href=“http://articles.latimes.com/2011/dec/25/business/la-fi-rent-20111225[/url]”>http://articles.latimes.com/2011/dec/25/business/la-fi-rent-20111225&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/landlordbook/catenant.pdf[/url]”>http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/landlordbook/catenant.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

5

<p>I like sybbie’s advice to use small claims court. However, I would observe that OP asserts that only “facts” have been presented. Facts are useless unless they can be proven. It doesn’t sound like there is much of a paper trail unfortunately.</p>

<p>It might be wise to simply decide that this unfortunate occurrence is an expensive lesson. OP was definitely inconvenienced, and has lost her deposit but she was not physically hurt and apparently nothing was damaged.</p>

6

<p>I am wondering if OP were to inform the landlord that she was pursuing her legal options due to the fact he didn’t allow her entrance to retrieve her belongings may inspire him to return her deposit.</p>

7

<p>Talk to the legal counsel at the college and get some suggestions as to the best way to pursue this case. Chances are good, things like this have happened before. </p>

<p>Whether it’s worth pursuing the matter could be an issue. My son waited all summer for his security deposit from the dump he lived in at college. Ha, ha. Waiting for Godot. Didn’t get a letter even denying him the money. Would not have been worth the air fare to go take the land lord to court. In some of these student slums, renters should kiss that security deposit check goodby before giving it to the landlord.</p>

<p>However, as Oldforte said, had you called the police upon being denied entry to your place, I think some of the outcomes might not have been the same. You do have rights as a renter. Where you stand right now, I don’t know. You need to talk to someone who knows your local laws and ordinances regarding these things.</p>

8

<p>Look here:
[Landlord/Tenant</a> Book Index - California Department of Consumer Affairs](<a href=“http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/landlordbook/index.shtml]Landlord/Tenant”>http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/landlordbook/index.shtml)
Pay particular attention to this section:
[California</a> Tenants - California Department of Consumer Affairs](<a href=“http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/landlordbook/moving-out.shtml]California”>http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/landlordbook/moving-out.shtml)
I am a landlord in California. Fight back, you will win. Yes, you made some mistakes, you should have called the police. Hopefully, you have witnesses. In any case, I think you will win. This guy’s actions are totally illegal. Try here for help:
[California</a> Tenant Law - Free legal advice for California renters](<a href=“California Tenant Law | Free Legal Advice, Renter Rights”>http://www.caltenantlaw.com/)
Good luck! I can’t stand to hear this abuse of tenants. There are plenty of honest landlords providing quality homes at fair prices. People like this guy need to be stopped.</p>

9

<p>As a landlord(in a different state) I agree largely with oldfort and rmldad.
Sounds like the LL handled things illegally. But it also sounds like Op handled things poorly.
Every time he wanted you to do something contrary to common sense, and probably contrary to the law, you did it.
If this was ever to come to court, it will sure look like you agreed to do those things, but that now you have changed your mind and want to unfairly stick it to the LL.</p>

<p>As a poster said earlier, because of the way you handled it, it would be very difficult to prove to a judge that things happened another way.</p>

10

<p>In California</p>

<p>UNLESS YOU AGREE, it is illegal to kick some one out of the house on a less than 30 days notice providing you have paid rent on time.
You should have called the police on the lock out, you can refuse to accept that $100 offer. Please keep all your docs and show the police you are legal residents there. Docs required but not limited to, your lease, if no lease, receipt of past rent. Letters including personal and bank statements sent to the address or util bills if any.</p>

<p>You can file suit against the LL, but it will be costly, some times you can get a public defender free if you have little income.</p>

11

<p>btw, if you refuse to move after 30 days notice, the LL cannot lock you out either. The LL must file an Unlawful Detainer law suit against you and if he wins, the sheriff can remove you from the premises. Some times an UD law suit can go on for 6 months.</p>

12

<p>I am a landlord of over a decade, though not in California, which has some odd rules, like a literal 60 day notice, not month to month notice like most of the country (after Lease has expired or when Tenant is MTM anyway). </p>

<p>It’s unclear to me if the Landlord rented a room in a private home to you, or you had your own separate premises? In his own home, he is not subject to most Landlord requirements. However, he can’t keep your clothes and items hostage like that, without allowing you to retrieve them. </p>

<p>Do you have a written Lease? If you do, the terms rule and he must abide by them. Any ambiguities will be construed AGAINST him, as the drafter. If you do not, that was a mistake, which you now know, of course. </p>

<p>It’s a he-said, she-said deal on the condition of the premises. I hope you signed a Condition statement at move-in, which will bolster any case you have in that area. </p>

<p>I think the only way you are going to get your deposit back here is to file a claim in small claims court (or however they handle it in CA) with whatever grounds you can find in the CA Landlord-Tenant statute. You might need to hire an attorney for best results.</p>

13

<p>regarding lock out</p>

<p>[Don’t</a> Lock Out or Freeze Out a Tenant – It’s Illegal | Nolo.com](<a href=“http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/lock-out-tenant-illegal-29799.html]Don’t”>Don't Lock Out or Freeze Out a Tenant -- It's Illegal | Nolo)</p>

14

<p>

I’m trying to figure out how you could stay in a motel for a few days in California with just $100. </p>

<p>There’s obviously more to this story than is being stated. </p>

<p>Hopefully you’ve learned some lessons - </p>

<ul>
<li><p>Know your rental rights before you rent. This includes the number of days required for an eviction notice, what to do if the LL locks you out (i.e. contact the police), under what circumstances they can keep any of the deposit, what to do when the place is uninhabitable, etc.</p></li>
<li><p>Have a written contract signed by both parties that clearly outlines the terms. Read it and understand it before signing it and retain a copy.</p></li>
<li><p>Realize that you have some recourse in small claims court (and with the police if locked out). (Based on your post) I’m sure you can get your deposit back, any paid rent for days you had no access if any, possibly some remuneration for the hotel since I don’t see how $100 could possibly cover a few days in a hotel, and reimbursement for any damage or loss of your stuff that they just stuck in the driveway (also illegal on their part).</p></li>
<li><p>(IMO) avoid just renting a room in someone’s house, especially some random person’s house. If at all possible, rent an apartment in a professionally managed apartment complex. This will help save you from some of the vagaries of unprofessional landlords.</p></li>
</ul>

15

<p>GGD,
I too, think there are more stories than presented here. OP is only stating her side of the story and LL cannot rebuttal.</p>

<p>However, it is common place to rent a room and it is totally legal, OP may not have the means to rent an apartment independently. Many ppl do rent rooms because the high rent in CA in comparison to the income. There is a section on craigslist just do that and I know a lot of LL do that to maximize their income.</p>

16

<p>^^ I know renting a room is legal and less expensive but I think that there’s more exposure to this type of LL in those situations so it’s best to avoid it if possible. For example, I could just decide to rent a room out tomorrow even though I have no experience as a LL and the renter would be at some mercy, especially if they weren’t careful about a written contract spelling out the details. I know it’s not always financially feasible to avoid it. I think it’s better to rent a professionally managed apartment with some roomies than just a room in someone’s house generally speaking.</p>