What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California
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We are in a desperate situation where we are constantly calling the police regarding loitering and other vagrants openly consuming alcohol and using drugs in the parking lot of a commercial strip mall, of which we are tenants. We are increasingly seeing more violent episodes against us which we would like resolved asap however, the landlord has done nothing to remedy this. The landlord has been threatened with a lawsuit from the neighboring liquor store as the police are fed up with being called out, and they are blaming it on the alcohol however, it is not the alcohol causing the problems. It is the open drug sales happening in our parking lot that are causing the problems. We have digital video and pictures of the security guard socializing with and selling drugs to the vagrants on the property, as well as other illegal activities taking place on the property. In fact, the last security guard was fired for the same reason -- he was selling drugs on the property. The second time we confronted our landlord about the situation and showed him the video he stopped charging us the monthly security guard fees (about $60) however, we feel like we are being intimidated into silence by our landlord. The landlord made us show the video to the security guard who has in turn has told the vagrants outside who have been mounting a campaign against us ever since. We lose FAR MORE than the $60 security guard fee he has stopped charging us. We have since found out that the security guard is also not a licensed security guard at all, and the landlord has since instructed us to call the police if we have any problems. There are also a number of other outstanding issues that we would like resolved. For instance, we have raw sewage from the neighbor's unit that leaks profusely, often several times a week. It smells disgusting, and we have had to purchase our own wet vac to constantly clean it to keep the customers coming in and avoid any health violation. The landlord refuses to fix the problem, only temporarily bandaids (like unplugging the drain to prevent the backup), but then will charge us for fixing issues with his building (such as the plumbing) in our CAM fees. We are wondering if we have any legal grounds to pursue this further with the property owner. Although we make out rent to the owner's name and mail to his home address, we have no way of getting in touch with him. He refuses to return our calls, or requests for a face to face meeting. We have trying fruitlessly to resolve this with the "manager" who has been confrontational and unhelpful. At this point, ANY help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
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We are in a desperate situation where we are constantly calling the police regarding loitering and other vagrants openly consuming alcohol and using drugs in the parking lot of a commercial strip mall, of which we are tenants. We are increasingly seeing more violent episodes against us which we would like resolved asap however, the landlord has done nothing to remedy this. The landlord has been threatened with a lawsuit from the neighboring liquor store as the police are fed up with being called out, and they are blaming it on the alcohol however, it is not the alcohol causing the problems. It is the open drug sales happening in our parking lot that are causing the problems. We have digital video and pictures of the security guard socializing with and selling drugs to the vagrants on the property, as well as other illegal activities taking place on the property. In fact, the last security guard was fired for the same reason -- he was selling drugs on the property. The second time we confronted our landlord about the situation and showed him the video he stopped charging us the monthly security guard fees (about $60) however, we feel like we are being intimidated into silence by our landlord. The landlord made us show the video to the security guard who has in turn has told the vagrants outside who have been mounting a campaign against us ever since. We lose FAR MORE than the $60 security guard fee he has stopped charging us. We have since found out that the security guard is also not a licensed security guard at all, and the landlord has since instructed us to call the police if we have any problems. There are also a number of other outstanding issues that we would like resolved. For instance, we have raw sewage from the neighbor's unit that leaks profusely, often several times a week. It smells disgusting, and we have had to purchase our own wet vac to constantly clean it to keep the customers coming in and avoid any health violation. The landlord refuses to fix the problem, only temporarily bandaids (like unplugging the drain to prevent the backup), but then will charge us for fixing issues with his building (such as the plumbing) in our CAM fees. We are wondering if we have any legal grounds to pursue this further with the property owner. Although we make out rent to the owner's name and mail to his home address, we have no way of getting in touch with him. He refuses to return our calls, or requests for a face to face meeting. We have trying fruitlessly to resolve this with the "manager" who has been confrontational and unhelpful. At this point, ANY help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.