Frigging ticked at my landlord right now.

[Saving Hawaii]

Can anybody tell me how many laws are being broken here? I'm living in California right now.

While I was in class today, she stopped by for a visit. It's understood that she's allowed to enter the house to use the laundry machines, to pick up checks (we leave them on the kitchen table), and to access her storage area. The furthest she needs to go into our portion of the house (it's a duplex w/ a common area of bathrooms and laundry in the middle) is the kitchen, in order to pick up checks, of which there were none for her to pickup today. All she was here to do was laundry, so she had no reason to even enter our actual living space.

Needless to say, I received a phone call from her complaining that my guitar amps were in the living room in our side of the duplex and that a damaged automotive engine I'm waiting to send out was sitting near our entryway (the other side of the duplex uses a different entrance). Apparently I'm not supposed to have -any- personal possessions in these spaces. (How I'm supposed to haul an engine weighing several hundred pounds up to my second-story room is anybody's guess.) She was also upset about how the floors needed to be vacuumed and swept and mopped (think leaves and stuff).

I came back on my lunch break and she was still here. I talked to her and this was when things got really bad. She informed me that the house smelled like a brewery (and gestured at a bottle of whiskey on the counter... that was actually the roommate's). And then she told me that she walked upstairs and entered my room and was appalled by how messy it was (think clothing on the floor, empty beer cans on the dresser, unmade bed... pretty messy but not a disaster). She said she did that because she was concerned that I was smoking in there (I wasn't). She then stated that she was very upset with me and suggested that she was probably going to terminate my tenancy at the end of the month (check that out, less than 13 days notice in the middle of winter - I still don't know what her plan is).

What do you guys think? I'm pretty pissed right now.

[Systematic Chaos]

1. You should do a search for your state + "tenant law" and study the sections about...

...entry of your premises and eviction.

You're probably looking at about 3 or 4 paragraphs of legalese, but it shouldn't be anything totally incomprehensible.

If there is anything she's doing that's completely out of the scope of those laws, shove the exact statutes in her face and then watch her bend over backwards to be reasonable with you -- if she has two brain cells to rub together anyway.

[grasswire]

2. there are laws that protect you

...and you should inform yourself about them ASAP. You can probably find out what your local laws are on the Internet. Check your copy of the rental agreement to find out when she is allowed to enter your property. Most contracts require that the landlord give you 24 hours written notice before they enter your property. And if she was in your bedroom, she violated that contract.

[riderinthestorm]

4. I'm in IL but as a former landlord, I think she definitely violated some laws.

Sufficient advance inspection notice for one. Clothes on the floor definitely do NOT qualify as contract terminators.... Not sure how your contract is worded but most of them have at LEAST 30 days notice for eviction.

You need to check out California's tenant's rights services. Most states have them for exactly this type of situation. Good luck, she's a bitch!! You are on her shit list so regardless of how wrong SHE is, I'd be starting to look for another place. Its only a matter of time before she gins up another 'sin".

[Lady Freedom Returns]

3. Does CA allow for her to do that?

I know that they can put that in the lease for them to do that here in MO. The inspections with out notice that is.

[Ptah]

5. Yearly lease? Month-to-month? Written agreement?

[Saving Hawaii]

8. Month-to-month.

My memory is a little fuzzy, but I don't believe that there is any written agreement. I don't remember ever signing anything and if I did I don't have a copy. My mistake.

The whole building is a rental though. She lives elsewhere. There are three tenants (me and my roommate, and a family on the other side) and we deal with some of the utility bills (we pay all of them, but some we pay to the landlord who pays the bill), etc... The only reason she has to visit the place are to pick up checks left on the kitchen table (immediately adjacent to the entry), to use the laundry, and to visit her storage (on the other side of the duplex).

I know that she can kick me out for unstated reasons in a month-to-month lease, but I'm not so certain she would if she's looking at trespassing charges and a civil suit. I don't want to cause her grief, but it's nice to be able to leverage your position.

[grasswire]

14. you have no written rental agreement or lease agreement?

How did that happen?

It makes me think that she is afoul of many local ordinances. Perhaps she is not declaring the income, either.

Are all of the utilities in her name, or are some in tenant names?

Do you have copies of all of the payments you have made to her? Otherwise you have no record of renting, apparently.

You might ask the couple on the other side if they have a written rental/lease agreement.

Keep us posted.

And I'm not sure the police department is the best place to report her. More likely, your local housing authority that regulates rental ordinances.

[Saving Hawaii]

18. Oral agreements are valid in California for anything less than 1yr terms.

That means we have no written understanding, but I still have basic rights as a tenant that she violated regardless of what anybody claims the oral agreement was.

We pay the internet bill ourselves. Water and power are paid via the landlord. I have written receipts for all monthly rental payments as well as utility payments.

[Saving Hawaii]

6. For a little more background...

The reason the house "smelled like a brewery" was because we'd had a small party the night before and I'd cleaned up the empty beer cans and stuff just a couple hours prior to her arrival and the place isn't well ventilated.

I'm wondering if I should stop by the police station tomorrow and file a report about her little looky-loo expedition. Look, she's a nice old lady and I don't want to cause her any grief, but what she did was completely inappropriate and illegal. And if she does try to kick me out, I'll have a nice discussion with her about that fact.

[Curmudgeoness]

7. California has good tenant protection laws

and although I don't know the details of the law there, I do know that she has to give you more notice than that, and it has to start with written notice before the clock starts.

Get the details. I have no doubt they are online. You do have protections.

[Saving Hawaii]

9. Think I'm gonna get a handheld voice recorder.

And not answer any phone calls. Let them go straight to voicemail and allow her to self-incriminate on the recording. If she doesn't I'll call her back and ask to speak in person and lead her the same way while recording the conversation. Is there anything else I should do to collect evidence, aside from filing a police report?

Honestly, there's few things I hate more than lawyers and judges and legalese. Child molesters for one. I don't want to go there. But I do want to have the upper hand in this discussion and from what I've read she's already given me more than enough ammo.

[JoeyT]

16. Be careful recording phone calls in California.

California is an all party consent state. Everyone involved in the call has to be warned in advance that the call is being recorded.

The voicemail thing is fine, though.

[Saving Hawaii]

19. I wasn't planning to record any phone calls. I was planning to do that in person.

Either let her say something incriminating on my voicemail or invite her over to discuss the issue and lead her into saying something incriminating while recording. I'll have to see if that's legal, but thanks for the heads up.

[Saving Hawaii]

20. Looking further...

I see that it's illegal to record any conversation in California without two-party consent. Guess I'll try the voicemail thing and if I can't get her there, I'll invite her over to have a discussion and once we get to the pertinent stuff I'll let her say what she has to say, and then ask her if she can repeat that so that I can make a recording. Even if she doesn't consent to that, it'll probably put the fear of God in her. And its amazing what people will sometimes agree to when they're stressed and get ambushed.

[Saving Hawaii]

22. Holy crap... the landlord gave me consent to record her...

And she stated over the voice recorder that she was disgusted that I smoked and drank alcohol, and that she went into my room -and- took pictures of my room and that she was very upset about the clothing on the floor and the beer cans on the counter.

[KurtNYC]

23. She took pictures of your room while you weren't there?

Wow. I would feel very violated. I have had my share of landlords who want to take your money and then tell you how to live. Beer cans on the counter is none of her frickin' business. She is not your mother and seems extremely rude and ill-suited to be a landlord.

Clothes on the floor? What tenant DOESN'T do that? It is called gravity. Who is she going to rent to next? Mormon Nudists?

She needs some certified mail to tell her you know your rights and aren't having any more of her bullshit. Get thee to a tenant's rights organization. You might also Google for any past legal actions against her just to see what happened and who won. I would try to avoid conversing with her too much until you know your rights and have a plan.

You clothes-wearing, beer enjoying human being you!

[Saving Hawaii]

24. I got a nice lecture about the perils of going to hell today.

[grasswire]

25. wow

She sounds like a nut.

Protect yourself by calling a tenants rights organization.

Better start looking for a new place, too. You can't trust this woman.

It might be possible to get some damages from her, but you would have to get some legal help, probably.

What did she plan to do with the pictures?

You might want to do the old spy trick to find out if she enters the apartment: put a short piece of thread in the doorjamb when you shut the door, down at the bottom near the floor. If the door is opened, the thread will fall out.

[HeiressofBickworth]

10. My guess is

that she knows someone who would rent the place for more money. So why else would she want the place vacated and available in 2 weeks?

In the absence of damage to the walls, ceiling or floors, having clothes on the floor and food (beer) odor in the place is NOT a reason for eviction. Not that she has performed a legal eviction anyway.

Yes, I always say, follow the money.

[Saving Hawaii]

11. My landlord said as much.

She told me that other people are looking at her place and she doesn't see any reason to keep me as a tenant when somebody else could pay the rent.

"In the absence of damage to the walls, ceiling or floors, having clothes on the floor and food (beer) odor in the place is NOT a reason for eviction."

Zero damage to any property. In fact, we remedied a situation that had been infesting the house with a horde of flies. After a vacuum, sweep, and mop session the place will be nicer than we found it.

[applegrove]

12. There should be a tenant's rights organization in some local city. Either that or tenant education

literature available. So sorry. Hope you can work it out.

[Saving Hawaii]

13. I live in BFE, unfortunately. /nt

[csziggy]

15. Start with the California Landlord Tenant Book Index

http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/landlordbook/

WHEN CAN THE LANDLORD ENTER THE RENTAL UNIT?

California law states that a landlord can enter a rental unit only for the following reasons:

In an emergency.
When the tenant has moved out or has abandoned the rental unit.
To make necessary or agreed-upon repairs, decorations, alterations, or other improvements.
To show the rental unit to prospective tenants, purchasers, or lenders, to provide entry to contractors or workers who are to perform work on the unit, or to conduct an initial inspection before the end of the tenancy (see Initial Inspection sidebar).
If a court order permits the landlord to enter.116
If the tenant has a waterbed, to inspect the installation of the waterbed when the installation has been completed, and periodically after that to assure that the installation meets the law's requirements.117

The landlord or the landlord's agent must give the tenant reasonable advance notice in writing before entering the unit, and can enter only during normal business hours (generally, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays). The notice must state the date, approximate time and purpose of entry.

More: http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/landlordbook/living-in.shtml

Check the other sections for termination, eviction, and other issues.

[zanana1]

17. As a landlord right now...

I wouldn't dare enter our tenants' apartment without her permission unless it was a real emergency. (A fire would be a good example).
My position is that, when a tenant pays me to live here, he/she is entitled to her privacy and to keep the apartment as messy as he/she wants. As long as the rent is paid on time and there are no loud parties after 10:00, I'm happy.

[NV Whino]

21. I can tell you two things

A landlord must give you 24 hours notice to enter for an inspection. Unless there is an emergency.

You must be given at least 30 days notice to vacate. (I've been. Tenant long enough they must give 60 days notice. Of course, I have to give them 60 days notice, too.)

I would also suggest you make other arrangements to get the tent to her. Mail it or leave it outside. Do not give her free access to your house.