landlord wont give deposit, but house is held by trust, not him. Who to sue?

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1

<p>This is in CA.</p>

<p>I rented a room from a man lets call him jack fatty who lives in a single family house and who rents out rooms to students in the house that he himself also lives in.
He locked me out several times, i was stupid and didn’t call police. </p>

<p>He once forced me to give me my house keys or else he wouldn’t let me leave the room and i would be late for a flight and won’t give me them back to me when I got back. this was before the lease is up, hence my staying at a motel after he threw my luggage out the patio that very same day i got back and locked the door. I never signed an aggreement to leave early! He threw my room stuff out on the curb two days later and refused a walkthrough. I was also stupid and have no pictures to prove it but have storange unit and motel costs and calls to his phone. Yes, I was stupid by not calling police. I am just in college.</p>

<p>after that, he Won’t return deposit, and i call him (landlord/jack fatty), doesn’t pick up ever. No response to texts either. Later calls from friend’s phone, he picks up, claims he is a cousin of the landlord and that he is dying of cancer, can’t give back deposit. this is recorded on videocam. I am a student and don’t have much money. </p>

<p>Here’s the kicker:</p>

<p>the landlord named jack fatty whom i signed the lease with is NOT the owner of the house. The owner of the house a trust called lets say Sam E. Stevens (Trust) and I went to tax assessor’s to verify this. Then I went to the county clerk-recorder and found the deed. THe deed says, house on this parcel number is owned by Sam E. Stevens and Successors. (trust) no trustees are mentioned. An alternative office address is given for the trust that is different from the parcel number linking this house to the address on the lease.</p>

<p>1)
So: Do i sue the landlord Jack Fatty or Sam E Stevens?
For the address, do i put the address on the lease which is the address of the landlord Jackass fatty and where I lived? Or do I put the address found on the deed?</p>

<p>2.) Also, Jack fatty the landlord told me once that he did not own the house, but rather was on a program where he was renting to eventually own the place, except that unlike rent to own, he was guaranteed a contract to buy the house after renting for xyz amount of years…I am pretty sure Sam E Stevens has no idea what is going on or if Jack fatty is renting out rooms or not. Is this lawsuit going to cause problems for Jackass Fatty to eventually gain ownership of the house from Sam E Stevens? </p>

<p>3.) So, Small claims told me there is no need for a demand letter in CA. However, Should I send one to the office at the deed mentioned whose ofice should be Sam E Stevens? or to Jack fatty? </p>

<p>4.) </p>

<p>Is there anything I can do to get back motel costs as well as triple security deposit? Jack fatty has ripped off strings of students, mostly international students who can’t sue once they are back in France or India!</p>

2

<p>How much is this deposit? A lawsuit could very likely cost you more than the deposit.</p>

<p>Why would you be entitled to a triple security deposit and hotel costs?</p>

<p>Whose name is on your lease?</p>

3

<p>You sue the “Landlord” or “Lessee” that is on the lease. The person that signed the lease can be the agent for the landlord or lessee.</p>

<p>You might be able to sue for damages relating to the manager for violating the terms of the least (locked you out without cause).</p>

4

<p>If you’re going to sue, I’d recommend you sue both. Have papers served to both LL and official property owner. If it goes to court, the judge might dismiss the case against one or the other- but- by naming both you sure bring it to the attention of both, and maybe it would be settled before going to court. In my state, an exiting tenant is required to provide LL with their new address in writing, or else the LL does not have to return deposit. So, if you are considering suing the LL for his unlawful actions, first make sure you have followed the laws.
Yes, in some states a victimized tenant can be awarded 3X the deposit, if the judge feels the ll withholding was outrageous.
If you were evicted improperly, and can prove it, you may be entitled to costs you incurred as a result.
You have learned a valuable lesson: document, document, document.</p>

5

<p>An even better idea- Next time you’re renting from an individual, especially one as shady as this, go ahead and deduct the deposit from the last month’s rent. They can whine about it, but good luck coming after you for it if theres no damages. The only thing you can potentially lose is a reference for your next rental.</p>

<p>Avoids situations like this entirely.</p>

<p>Now if you’re in an apartment building thats professionally managed, do not try this. Only works for mom and pop renters since they have no credit recourse.</p>

6

<p>Oh, he kicked you out early. Yea, call the cops immediately next time. No one can bar you access to your stuff for even a second.</p>

7

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<p>What’s the logic behind this sort of law?</p>

8

<p>Well, I’m not sure this is landlord tenant law at all. First thing would be to contact the house’s owner to see if this person has a right to lease rooms. If so, then you sue them too. If not, then you inform them what is going on and that this person is creating a serious legal problem for them - one which will involve the police. I mean specifically if Mr. Fatty is a tenant, does he have a right to sublease? And can he do this without the landlord’s approval?</p>

<p>Looks to me like there is a good chance this person is violating the law and stealing money. That means you can:</p>

<ol>
<li>Threaten to go to the police to see if you can get your money back.</li>
<li>Go to the police. </li>
</ol>

<p>This kind of thing happens. A version happened in a property I own: a tenant was collecting security deposits from new people entering without my knowledge or authorization. She didn’t deposit them in the bank but spent them, meaning she stole their money and converted it, which is theft - and the amounts were at a felony level. (And when I eventually kicked her out, she asked me for the tenant security deposit so she could pay the people she’d stolen from. I told her she was lucky not to be in jail.)</p>

<p>If Mr. Fatty is doing this illegally, the police can knock on his door and take him away in handcuffs. If he’s allowed to sublet, the issue becomes more complicated. I don’t know CA renter law but it would be illegal in many places to lease a place as though you are the landlord when you’re actually a tenant; you’re granting rights to occupancy you don’t have to give because their tenancy is subject to your tenancy.</p>

9

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<p>Or they can evict you and you will end up with unlawful detainer on your record.</p>

<p>Also, it seems like OP posted about this situation in another thread. Why start a new one?</p>

10

<p>

I wouldn’t think that’s the case since it’d be a small claims court case.</p>

<p>OP - you need to sue the landlord to try to get back what’s due to you. You’ve already tried other means and it hasn’t worked. This is one of the reasons small claims court exists.</p>

11

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<p>Lerkin, I meant for the final month of the lease. I skimmed the story about 40x too fast and didn’t realize the OP was kicked out before they had a chance to withhold rent.</p>

<p>And good luck getting evicted <3mo. Even landlord friendly states require 2+ missed payments, and criminal charges? You’ve got to be joking- you clearly don’t have a lot of experience with under the table/low income rental situations. The rentor has all the power after money has been exchanged. Even if money hasn’t been, google squatter’s rights by state.</p>

<p>Agreed on the taking the jerk to small claims court, though if hes truly indigent it may be an exercise in futility.</p>

12

<p>Rexximus,</p>

<p>in my state (MN) there is no problem evicting tenants during the last month of lease. I’ve done this before. I am not sure to whom your comment “you’ve got to be joking” is addressed, but if it is amied at me, I clearly DO have a lot of experience with tenant/landlord issues (though I don’t do “under the table”) - I’ve been a landlord for almost 15 years. Some of my tenants are/were low income. It doesn’t take a long time to evict in my state if there is a written lease agreement and landlord follows all required steps.</p>

13

<p>The advice on your other thread is good advice. I’m not sure why this second thread was started since it is about exactly the same issue. Are you considering the advice given on thread number one? I would suggest you re-read that thread and the responding posts.</p>

14

<p>OP, instead of start another thread trying to repeat yourself, why not take all these advise and let us know what action you are taking and maybe we can comment on your intents.</p>

<p>lerkin, there are major differences between CA UD and that of your state. There is No Way in the world to conclude a CA UD in one month, first of all, there is the 30 day notice, and even after the landlord won the UD uncontested, it might take two to three weeks just for the county sheriff to come out. A contested UD could take six months or longer.</p>

15

<p>I would bet this is an illegal rental. I would tell him, you are going to city/town hall to complain and see what happens. If he still doesn’t return your money, follow through and go to city hall.</p>

16

<p>Go to small claims court if the amount you seek is under the limit (if there is a limit in CA). Bring all your documentation. You’ll have an opportunity to speak and the landlord will have an opportunity. In Michigan if the landlord doesn’t show up, the tenant wins and vice versa. In Michigan the problem then becomes how to collect the money. Read the CA laws thoroughly before you proceed including what recourse you have if you win to actually collect the money. Best wishes.</p>

17

<p>Thank you for asking, Racin(post 7)
The logic is really two-fold.
First, in my state the LL has 30 days to mail any security deposit due. The LL should not have to hire a detective to locate the tenants new address.
Requiring the tenant to give new address prevents a LL from paying penalties for not sending the deposit if the exiting tenant has not given a new address.
Second, it prevents an unscrupulous tenant from deliberately not providing address in an attempt to later sue for additional financial damages because the LL wasn’t timely.</p>

<p>In short, the LL cannot be held liable to send security deposit if the tenant has withheld his new address. If we stop and think about it, there’s really only one reason a tenant would choose not to provide his next address.</p>

18

<p>If this is an illegal rental, if the guy has no right to sublease, etc., then he’s committing theft and, given the amounts, at the level of a felony. That is why he should talk to the actual owner and then go to the police, not city hall, to swear out a complaint.</p>

19

<p>Since the OP would not answer or comment on all these suggestions from both threads. I declare OP is a ■■■■■, unless OP can provide evidence otherwise.</p>

<p>Do not feed the ■■■■■.</p>

20

<p>Agreed…two threads with an OP only…both about the same issue. First thread started In July…three weeks ago. Plenty of time to take action using the suggestions from thread number one…if this is a real issue.</p>