Landlord Issue

[Alaska landlord]

Except that a) late fees are illegal in California on Residential Lease Agreements.

I say prove it!

b) there was nothing about a pet deposit/fee in ANYONE's lease, and now all of a sudden that's what he's saying it is.

Would be nice if it he were to put it on the lease, but most LL's prefer for pets to be by written permission from the LL.

He has even said that every one of us signed an identical lease (which may or may not have been true)

Not your business what his lease or even if he has a lease is. NOT YOUR PROPERTY.
The lease is a contract between him and whoever the tenant is, you have no say on what the contents of the lease is.

c) my real issue here is not that he can't make up rules in his house, only that he keeps changing the rules midstream.

That is a reasonable issue, but your issue seems to be how he conducts his business not the rules. If girl#1 has an attitude problem, then he owes her no favors or special treatment.

If it was for a pet deposit, that should've been said up front. If he was going to only charge some people late fees, then I'm sorry we have a right to question it.

Again, not your business, but you keep on questioning and EVERYONE will get late fees and be forced to pay. The LL may even tell your friends the reason is because YOU put up a stink! Let's see how your friends feel about you after that!

Just because he owns the property, doesn't make him God. We are paying him to live in this house, and he is taking the money in lieu of possession of the property. That is what California law says.

Not God, just lord of his Kingdom

Suggestion: Find a hobby. You seem to have too much time in your hands. The world is not fair no matter what you were told in school.

 

[sdgirl]

Unfortunately girl1 signed the lease stating she would pay x amount so I don't think it matters if he says it's for a pet or for anything. This is the power of being a landlord. I didn't know that late fees were illegal in California. Maybe if the girl wrote a formal letter, kept a copy, and sent it certified mail citing the specific law (check online renter right sites), he might see that he did something wrong and return fees. I think that your best bet would be to ask that the landlord put all of his new rules in writing. As far as I know, the landlord must give 30 day written notice if he wishes to change or add anything to the lease. And contact a renter advocacy center. I know there's tons of them California. They can give you free legal advice and are trained to deal with landlord/tenant disputes. You can do a web search and find a few. Or contact the HUD office in your area and they can point you in the right direction. Try to move out soon so you don't have to deal with him, educate yourself as best you can about renter rights and landlord rights, and ask your next landlord if there is a smart ass clause.(just kidding )

 

[Alaska landlord]

Yea, you can't charge late fees, can't evict during the winter and if your pregnant or have kids you don't have to pay rent because the LL can't evict you. OH! then there is the "you can't evict me because we are in the Christmas Holiday season."

Almost forgot.

a landlord must paint between tenants.

I'm sure there's more but I can't remember.

 

[Gadfly]

Not only is the OP into something of no business to him/her, he/she is going on the public school assumption that life should be fair. They aren't. And yes, attitudes DO affectg how much a person gets charges. It's called "dealing with you fee."

 

[Hot Topic]

The OP is so stirred up because she's the subject of the post, as in, "I have this friend who...."

 

[Cvillecpm]

Reasonable late fees are ALLOWED in Ca.

SDG - HUD won't give landlord-tenant advice....they deal with fair housing issues. The tenant advocate agencies you suggest are mainly in rent controlled areas of CA since federal and state funding have been cut for many of the these services.

Reading the California Civil Code sections dealing with landlord-tenant issues is ALWAYS the BEST source of information for tenants....landlords have many books on the subject as well as informative websites.

"a little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing".

 

[sdgirl]

Sorry, I just meant that HUD gave me numbers to call for free legal counsel for tenants recently, not actual advice. You are right Cvillecpm, I just didn't make it clear what I meant. And every HUD office might not be able to do the same. So I revoke that advice.

 

[blahbleebloo]

I wanted to say Thank You to everyone that at least attempted to answer my question regarding this landlord issue. It's a confusing thing, and I wasn't trying to raise a "stink" or make things harder for my roommate. I was just trying to be as informed as possible in case something like this came up between me and my landlord.

And to those of you that "answered" me with nothing but sarcasm and smart ass comments, then I hope you someday find yourself in a situation where maybe you're a little naive and in over your head, and you go to an advice forum, hoping for advice, and the people who are the so called "experts" offer you nothing but hostility.

 

[xylene]

Seems like any time an apartment is rented with 'separate leases' on per bedroom basis where the landlord is not a resident - that is just asking for sleazy conduct, or at the very least complexity and needless drama.

Good luck and next time find a nice fair efficiency.

 

[cjmajor09]

I'm gonna tell you from my personal experience..landlords can be real jerks. For example my first apartment the landlord said his maintenance man would come in and spray for bugs, fix things, and change the air filter. Yeah right..The man only came like twice in a year and a half. We could never get in touch with the landlord and we saw him twice in a year and a half. Example two. Our current home we are in..the original landlord gave us the wrong key when we moved in cause she couldn't find the right one, was a real b**** to us, took more than a week to get in touch with us, and was a real pain in the a** so after complaining alot..she no longer works there. Our new landlord is great so there are good ones out there. They sometimes forget that your basically paying for the things they get in life and sometimes take advantage of that. My advice...find out what you can do to get out of the lease agreement and you and girl # whatever you like so much should do some research on management groups and get an apartment together where you feel comfortable and forget about the King of the jungle!! Good luck!!!


****age, wisdom, and experience has nothing to do with trumping young people, its all how manipulitive you can be*****