A rather complicated rental situation, and shady neighbour/"property manager"

[Mathamel17]

Location: California

First off, this is a quite unique situation, which there are multiple questions I would like answered. So first of all, a quick background on the state of the property I live on.

There are 2 manufactured homes on this property. There are 3 owners,(s1, s2, & s3) each owning an equal share of the main house, and the land it sits on, but s1 owns the back house outright, which leads into question number one.

Based on that information, does s1 have a majority stake in the property? And what are his/her rights because of being the sole owner of the back house?

I live in the back house, and s1 is who I have a lease agreement with. In the main house resides another family (our yards are separated.) We'll refer to them as t2. These people are the "tenants" of s2 an s3, although they live there 100% for free. There is only one utility pole for our electric. For the back house, we have an old school legacy meter, and the bill itself is in the name of s2. As a result, it is mailed every month to their box, and they then send it to s2, along with a photograph of our meter, then they find the difference between the photograph from the beginning and end of the month to find our kWh usage for that month, then deduct that value from the total bill to calculate what I owe. Well I have noticed that the past 4 months our electricity bill has been obnoxiously high. Every attempt I have made to get t2 to show me the bill, or to send me his copies of the photographs for the previous month's has failed. He showed me a picture of some numbers written down on a piece of paper and said that that was his proof. Because I don't have the account number, (and because the physical address with the electric company is not the same as the listed property address) I have not been able to verify myself what the actual bill is. But fortunately, thanks to a little detective work I was able to get our current balance via the electric company's automated phone system. T2 wants me to believe that the total bill is $490, of which I am responsible for 330, when in reality, the entire bill for both sides is 330. I have not spoken to him since finding this out, but I know that under California state law ("price-gouging", or utility profiteering?) which is essentially what this is, is illegal, as well as withholding the account information or statement or whatever. Prior to having learned that he is definitely screwing me, because I was suspicious that he had been doing so I refused to pay the bill until he gave me the account number, which he claims to not have/refuses to give it to me.

Based on this, what are my rights to pursue action against him and how would I go about doing it? I want to get the account number so I can see just how long this has been going on. The bill every month has been in excess of $250, despite being extremely conservative. I want my money back for the months that I have overpaid, and whatever penalties and charges to the fullest extent of the law.

Part three, as a result of me refusing to pay the bill without the account number, s2 is apparently going to fly out here from where they live out of state and is going to bring the police here to evict me. My lease agreement isn't even with her, and she doesn't own the home that I live in, so does she even have the right to do so? What do I do if she tries to do it anyways? What do I tell the officers when they show up?

T2 has literally made a game out of calling s2 and taking smack about us, accusing us of having "excessive traffic," being "tweakers", stealing his mail and packages, you name it, he's said it. S2 isn't exactly a very nice person to deal with, mainly because there is a lot of bad blood between s1 and herself. With t2 getting her ready to explode, absolutely nothing good will come of this, so God only knows what will happen.

On a side note, s1 lives across the street from me with his girlfriend, and s2 lives out of state. How would the courts view the whole ownership dispute if he were to try to dispute it in court somehow?

And also, s2 has been the only one paying the taxes for the last 9 years. If s1 pays the taxes for the upcoming year in advance will that help him to maintain his position as part owner?

A million thanks in advance to anyone and everyone who responds. I understand this is a lot of crap to take in, and if y'all need any more information please just ask and I'll do my best to provide it!

 

[LdiJ]

Location: California

First off, this is a quite unique situation, which there are multiple questions I would like answered. So first of all, a quick background on the state of the property I live on.

There are 2 manufactured homes on this property. There are 3 owners,(s1, s2, & s3) each owning an equal share of the main house, and the land it sits on, but s1 owns the back house outright, which leads into question number one.

Based on that information, does s1 have a majority stake in the property? And what are his/her rights because of being the sole owner of the back house?

I live in the back house, and s1 is who I have a lease agreement with. In the main house resides another family (our yards are separated.) We'll refer to them as t2. These people are the "tenants" of s2 an s3, although they live there 100% for free. There is only one utility pole for our electric. For the back house, we have an old school legacy meter, and the bill itself is in the name of s2. As a result, it is mailed every month to their box, and they then send it to s2, along with a photograph of our meter, then they find the difference between the photograph from the beginning and end of the month to find our kWh usage for that month, then deduct that value from the total bill to calculate what I owe. Well I have noticed that the past 4 months our electricity bill has been obnoxiously high. Every attempt I have made to get t2 to show me the bill, or to send me his copies of the photographs for the previous month's has failed. He showed me a picture of some numbers written down on a piece of paper and said that that was his proof. Because I don't have the account number, (and because the physical address with the electric company is not the same as the listed property address) I have not been able to verify myself what the actual bill is. But fortunately, thanks to a little detective work I was able to get our current balance via the electric company's automated phone system. T2 wants me to believe that the total bill is $490, of which I am responsible for 330, when in reality, the entire bill for both sides is 330. I have not spoken to him since finding this out, but I know that under California state law ("price-gouging", or utility profiteering?) which is essentially what this is, is illegal, as well as withholding the account information or statement or whatever. Prior to having learned that he is definitely screwing me, because I was suspicious that he had been doing so I refused to pay the bill until he gave me the account number, which he claims to not have/refuses to give it to me.

Based on this, what are my rights to pursue action against him and how would I go about doing it? I want to get the account number so I can see just how long this has been going on. The bill every month has been in excess of $250, despite being extremely conservative. I want my money back for the months that I have overpaid, and whatever penalties and charges to the fullest extent of the law.

Part three, as a result of me refusing to pay the bill without the account number, s2 is apparently going to fly out here from where they live out of state and is going to bring the police here to evict me. My lease agreement isn't even with her, and she doesn't own the home that I live in, so does she even have the right to do so? What do I do if she tries to do it anyways? What do I tell the officers when they show up?

T2 has literally made a game out of calling s2 and taking smack about us, accusing us of having "excessive traffic," being "tweakers", stealing his mail and packages, you name it, he's said it. S2 isn't exactly a very nice person to deal with, mainly because there is a lot of bad blood between s1 and herself. With t2 getting her ready to explode, absolutely nothing good will come of this, so God only knows what will happen.

On a side note, s1 lives across the street from me with his girlfriend, and s2 lives out of state. How would the courts view the whole ownership dispute if he were to try to dispute it in court somehow?

And also, s2 has been the only one paying the taxes for the last 9 years. If s1 pays the taxes for the upcoming year in advance will that help him to maintain his position as part owner?

A million thanks in advance to anyone and everyone who responds. I understand this is a lot of crap to take in, and if y'all need any more information please just ask and I'll do my best to provide it!

S2 cannot evict you from S1's property. S2 cannot evict you from the land because one of the owner's of the property wants you there. The only way you can be evicted from the property is if all three owners are in agreement that you need to be evicted and have a legal reason to evict you. Demanding to see the utility bill before you pay your share is not a legal reason. Also, there is a process for eviction. No one can just call the police and have them evict someone. It doesn't work that way.

Have you discussed the problem with the utility bill with S1, your actual landlord?

 

[adjusterjack]

Ownership doesn't really matter because one doesn't have to own property to be a lessor.

You have a lease with S1. S1 is who you pay your portion of the utility bill to (in the absence of a contract to the contrary) regardless of whose name is on the bill.

It's up to S1 to figure out what you owe, document it to you, collect from you and then pay to whoever actually pays the electric company. Make a separate check out to S1, mark it electric bill, and keep a photo copy. You would be wise to start taking your own dated photographs of your meter.

If you can't get an agreement as to exactly how much you owe, pay the amount that you think you owe. That gives you some defense to an allegation of non-payment.

Beyond that, I agree that there is a process for eviction. And here it is:

http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?chapter=4.&part=3.&lawCode=CCP&title=3.

 

[FarmerJ]

If you can read each meter ( meaning the meter the electric company owns and the sub meter then you will know how much you use and how much they use in terms of KWH and this electric company can indeed tell you its price per KWH and how much its basic monthly service fee is for the privledge of having working electricity avail to the place ( where i live that basic monthly fee whether you use 0 Kwh or 5000 kwh a month is 28.00 every month , It is math and you sure should be able to start reading the master meter and sub meter same day and if you want to get a sort of baseline do it once a week so you can see what your average use is ( times 4 ) then x each meters total kwh by the price per kwh and you would get a rough idea of what you should be paying if they dont like it then call your state and learn what rules are in place addressing landlords who re bill a utility to a tenant via a submeter .

 

[zddoodah]

There are 2 manufactured homes on this property. There are 3 owners,(s1, s2, & s3) each owning an equal share of the main house, and the land it sits on, but s1 owns the back house outright, which leads into question number one.

Based on that information, does s1 have a majority stake in the property?

Your post is confusing. Manufactured homes (i.e., mobile homes) are not real property. They are personal property and are titled through the CA DMV. Owning one or more manufactured homes that sits on a piece of real property (i.e., land) does not give the owner of the manufactured home any ownership rights in the land. That being the case, the only information you have provided that is relevant to the question asked is the following: "3 owners,(s1, s2, & s3) each [owns] an equal share of the main house[] and the land it sits on." Based on this information, the answer is no, s1 does not "have a majority stake in the property" (i.e., the land on which the two manufactured homes sit). The best way to get an answer to this question would be to look at the deed for the land, but the question is utterly irrelevant to the issue you described.

And what are his/her rights because of being the sole owner of the back house?

It would serve no useful purpose to try and create a list of rights. Care to ask a more specific question?

the bill itself is in the name of s2. As a result, it is mailed every month to their box, and they then send it to s2, along with a photograph of our meter, then they find the difference between the photograph from the beginning and end of the month to find our kWh usage for that month, then deduct that value from the total bill to calculate what I owe.

To whom do you write a check for the electricity?

Based on this, what are my rights to pursue action against him and how would I go about doing it?

I can't tell to whom "him" refers, but nothing you have posted suggests you have any valid legal claim against anyone.

s2 is apparently going to fly out here from where they live out of state and is going to bring the police here to evict me. My lease agreement isn't even with her, and she doesn't own the home that I live in, so does she even have the right to do so? What do I do if she tries to do it anyways? What do I tell the officers when they show up?

"When they show up"? LOL. That's not how evictions work. Not even close. Your landlord (s1, apparently) would have to file an unlawful detainer action against you, which I don't see happening (esp. under present circumstances). If s2 does attempt "to bring the police here to evict" you, she will be told that's not what the police do and that she should consult with an attorney.

How would the courts view the whole ownership dispute if he were to try to dispute it in court somehow?

I have no idea what "ownership dispute" you're talking about. Nor is it clear who "he" is or what "he" might "dispute . . . in court."

And also, s2 has been the only one paying the taxes for the last 9 years. If s1 pays the taxes for the upcoming year in advance will that help him to maintain his position as part owner?

No. It has nothing to do with it.

The only way you can be evicted from the property is if all three owners are in agreement that you need to be evicted

That's not true. s1, the OP's landlord, can evict the OP without s2 or s3 being involved.