landlord harassment

[crystal92599]

California......i am writing because my family and i are constantly being harassed by our landlord! We have a payment stipulation arranged with the landlord and have been paying them...we actually paid them more than the stipulation required this month. our rent is 900 we paid 300 on oct. 3 and another 450 on oct. 9th when we are according to the stipulation supposed to pay them every 2 weeks. my apartment manager just came upstairs saying that we still owe 350...and i told them that i would have the money this friday....she said that the owner of the complex is not willing to wait because he has bills to pay too....mind you the apartment complex is infested with roaches and with the recent rains in california some of the apartments in the complex have flooded this is unsafe for all tenants and that is illegal, they don't want to fix things!! my toilet was broken for 4 days before they came upstairs and fixed it...then wanted to charge me money for them to fix it!! i have a 3 yr old that can't wait to run downstairs or has to go to the bathroom at night! every tenant in this complex pays the rent through out the month and the landlord has no problem with these people doing this! however when it comes to my family and i they are constantly harassing us for money!!!! they have tried to evict us and i feel they are constantly trying to get us out of this complex, for what reason i don't know..i once gave them 1500 to cover a month in a half's rent and they ended up tacking on fees for their time which added up to so much it still left us behind in rent!!!!!! i really want to know what i can do....my family and I are low income and can't afford a lawyer and I know we can't win a case against them on our own!!! can someone please help us ASAP! thank you and i appreciate any comments or advice

[Banned_Princess]

Please follow the link to CA's Legal aids' and find the one that is in your town and serves your court.

You don't have to go to court alone.

http://www.lawhelpcalifornia.org/CA/StateDirectory.cfm

[Baranov]

Here's an idea for you. You can pay ALL of the rent due at the time it is due. You can also pay all late fees and past due rent. I am sure once that has been accomplished the landlord will stop harassing you. Do you pay all your other bills late? Do you complain when they call and "harass" you for their money?

To answer your question. Asking for rent is not harassment and your landlord can call in person to collect. He can also take steps to evict you if he wishes.

[searchertwin]

Your LL is not harrassing you. He wants his rent. You are not paying him the amount due him of $900.00. You stated: "our rent is 900 we paid 300 on oct. 3 and another 450 on oct. 9th." This is LESS than amount due, result is late fees. $300 and $450 = $750 not $900. You stated he wants an additional $350. Of course he wants the rest of the amount of rent, $150 PLUS late fees of $50, that why he wants $350 more. You should be paying $450.00 as stipulated every two weeks to avoid late fees.

Here's a NEWS FLASH: LL has bills he needs to pay that why we have investments like rentals!!

Having roaches is irrelevant to paying your rent. LL responsibility here is to try to get rid of them. The key word here is TRY. You have to help with the problem also.
The other tenants, do you know how and when they pay their rent? Are they paying the amount due or how much they can afford?
You have to stop and realize that every two weeks come real fast.

You stated: "I gave them 1500 to cover a couple months rent and they ended up tacking on fees for their time which added up to so much it still left us behind in rent!" Mistake number one, for two months rent would be $1800 not $1500, result, late fees for balance of $300.00 for last month.
Save your money, you don't have any legal reason to go to court. You did not pay rent that was due, period. But you can try, everyone can try.
Follow Baranov advice: "Here's an idea for you. You can pay ALL of the rent due at the time it is due."

[crystal92599]

Originally Posted by Baranov

Here's an idea for you. You can pay ALL of the rent due at the time it is due. You can also pay all late fees and past due rent. I am sure once that has been accomplished the landlord will stop harassing you. Do you pay all your other bills late? Do you complain when they call and "harass" you for their money?

To answer your question. Asking for rent is not harassment and your landlord can call in person to collect. He can also take steps to evict you if he wishes.

i have been paying according to the stipulation...i am paying as ordered by a judge! they have no right to ask for more money when i am following court orders...on top of that they shouldn't have **** roaches infesting their apartments and their apartments shouldn't be leaking water in them when it rains and the balcony on some of the apartments have caution tape around them because they are about ready to fall!!!! Would you want to pay rent for a place where they don't care about their tenants??? why don't you ask the landlord if he pays his bills! or if he takes care of his tenants??? answer would be no! i'm paying them money so they can just not fix what needs to be fixed! they are greedy slumlords! and they are discriminating against us because like i said everyone in the complex doesn't pay the full amount of rent on time!!!!!

[crystal92599]

Originally Posted by searchertwin

Your LL is not harrassing you. He wants his rent. You are not paying him the amount due him of $900.00. You stated: "our rent is 900 we paid 300 on oct. 3 and another 450 on oct. 9th." This is LESS than amount due, result is late fees. $300 and $450 = $750 not $900. You stated he wants an additional $350. Of course he wants the rest of the amount of rent, $150 PLUS late fees of $50, that why he wants $350 more. You should be paying $450.00 as stipulated every two weeks to avoid late fees.

Here's a NEWS FLASH: LL has bills he needs to pay that why we have investments like rentals!!

Having roaches is irrelevant to paying your rent. LL responsibility here is to try to get rid of them. The key word here is TRY. You have to help with the problem also.
The other tenants, do you know how and when they pay their rent? Are they paying the amount due or how much they can afford?
You have to stop and realize that every two weeks come real fast.

You stated: "I gave them 1500 to cover a couple months rent and they ended up tacking on fees for their time which added up to so much it still left us behind in rent!" Mistake number one, for two months rent would be $1800 not $1500, result, late fees for balance of $300.00 for last month.
Save your money, you don't have any legal reason to go to court. You did not pay rent that was due, period. But you can try, everyone can try.
Follow Baranov advice: "Here's an idea for you. You can pay ALL of the rent due at the time it is due."

I'm sorry but having roaches is a reason to not pay rent...they are a health hazard to my children. And that is a reason to break a lease
A rental unit must be fit to live in; that is, it must be habitable. In legal terms, "habitable" means that the rental unit is fit for occupation by human beings and that it substantially complies with state and local building and health codes that materially affect tenants' health and safety. which it doesn't!!!!! so before you say anything about me paying my rent i'm following the court order!! they have no right to ask for more money when i am following what is ordered by a judge!

[debtcollector`]

You need to get your story straight and come back. You make no sense.

Take some time and figure out what you want to say then write it.

Eliminate all the adverbs and adjectives that are not necessary for comprehension.

DC

[Banned_Princess]

Originally Posted by crystal92599

I'm sorry but having roaches is a reason to not pay rent...they are a health hazard to my children. And that is a reason to break a lease
A rental unit must be fit to live in; that is, it must be habitable. In legal terms, "habitable" means that the rental unit is fit for occupation by human beings and that it substantially complies with state and local building and health codes that materially affect tenants' health and safety. which it doesn't!!!!! so before you say anything about me paying my rent i'm following the court order!! they have no right to ask for more money when i am following what is ordered by a judge!

So, let me ask you, how many times have you wrote your complaint, and got reciept it was delivered?

How many times did you get an inspector to come in and look at this trash hole?

How many times did you bring suit against your LL to make the mandated corrections?

How many times have you told your LL inwriting that you are paying as ordered and to stop harassing you?

Why dont you just let them take you to court and bring a lawyer? I refrenced them above.

If you really felt like you didnt have to pay rent under the conditions you are, why didnt you bring that up in court ... when you were there the first time?

Is it because the judge might condem the building, and make you move?

You just got to ignore the B*ll if you arent going to do anything about what you can do. and if you are using a checking acount that shows the payments are on time, all they can do is Bitc* at you.

[Baranov]

The best way to get rid of the roaches is to get rid of all his late paying and non paying tenants. Roaches are there because you guys have bad cleaning habits.

He would not be a slumlord if he didn't have slum-tenants. How many of the tenants have jobs? Or is this a section 8 housing only?

There is no incentive for a landlord to fix anything when the tenants are not paying their rent.

Try paying the court stipulated amount AND the due rent on time. 750 is not the court mandated amount.

[searchertwin]

Originally Posted by crystal92599

I'm sorry but having roaches is a reason to not pay rent...they are a health hazard to my children. And that is a reason to break a lease
A rental unit must be fit to live in; that is, it must be habitable. In legal terms, "habitable" means that the rental unit is fit for occupation by human beings and that it substantially complies with state and local building and health codes that materially affect tenants' health and safety. which it doesn't!!!!! so before you say anything about me paying my rent i'm following the court order!! they have no right to ask for more money when i am following what is ordered by a judge!

Why didn't you bring up the issue of it not being habitable while in court? Makes one wonder. Why did you go to court for anyway? You never said. You only complain about paying late fees.
Anyway, here is something you might want to consider before you break your lease and have to pay future rent until your place is rented:

"In cases where the source of the indoor pollutants is not clear, or when it is not one of the named and regulated substances above, or if the pollutant is biological in origin, such as ****roaches, mold, dust mites, etc., then there are no Federal laws to address these complaints."

[LAtenant]

These guys responding to this thread are wrong, and being pricks about it too.

If you've got roaches, a toilet that doesn't work or house that's flooding that's an immediate and emergency call to the local housing code enforcement agency. Always document any complaint with written letters either sent via certified mail or with the rent check (which if they cash it confirms they received the written complaint).

The law says that they can't collect a dime in those conditions, because of the implied warranty of habitability. But you have to prove your case - you will tell him no, he will issue a notice to pay or quit, then he'll file an unlawful detainer, you'll need to respond and go to court and argue your case. Unless there is thorough documentation (certified letters receipts, photocopies of the letters sent and logs of phone calls, etc.) your taking a big risk. The best defense exhibits are housing code enforcement letters/notices to comply and pictures. Clean up the place and take pictures documenting the mess. Furthermore, unless a court determines the premises are uninhabitable and reduces the rent you will required to pay them something sometime in the future. Judge will determine how much (60%, 70%, 90% etc). And often if you don't pay it immediately after the judge makes his determination you will be evicted. So better be keeping the back rent in the bank if you're withholding it.

Lots of good stuff here: [url=http://www.caltenantlaw.com]California Tenant Law - Free legal advice for California renters[/url]

[divona2000]

Originally Posted by LAtenant

...The law says that they can't collect a dime in those conditions, because of the implied warranty of habitability. But you have to prove your case...a notice to pay or quit, then he'll file an unlawful detainer, you'll need to respond and go to court and argue your case...Furthermore, unless a court determines the premises are uninhabitable and reduces the rent you will required to pay them something sometime in the future...if you don't pay it immediately after the judge makes his determination you will be evicted...[/url]

I guess the Judge thought otherwise.

Did you miss the part where OP has already been to court...and lost?

Originally Posted by crystal92599

i have been paying according to the stipulation...i am paying as ordered by a judge!...

Originally Posted by crystal92599

...so before you say anything about me paying my rent i'm following the court order!! they have no right to ask for more money when i am following what is ordered by a judge!