What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? California
My boyfriend and I own a townhouse in Antioch that we rent out to a tenant and her two children. We've already served a 3 Day Notice to Pay or Rent for June's rent that was due the 1st. The deadline for the Notice was Friday and no rent was received. We're nervous that the tenant will make this a long drawn-out process and claim that we're "retaliating." One lawfirm that specializes in evictions actually told me that this type of aggressive tenant could potentially cause us to incur very high attorney's fees -- many times more than the monthly rent. She suggested that I visit this site and recommended a few books that would allow us to evict the tenant ourselves.
Below, I cut-and-paste the summary of events (written from my boyfriend's perspective) that we've already prepared for our expected day in court.
April 15 – Disclosed current state of floor to tenant who agreed it didn’t need repair at that time.
May 9 – Tenant claimed the floor needed repair but didn’t provide details.
May 14 – Flooring professional failed to show at scheduled time to provide an estimate of the damage.
May 17 – I called the Tenant to provide 24 hour notice of entry so that I could personally assess the damage claim. Tenant refused entry and instead insisted that she would provide me the details I needed – measurements and pictures.
May 24 – I had to get in touch with the Tenant because I hadn’t heard from her for a week. I again asked for the details of the claimed damage. She told me the next day that she would “be sure to send that information off to me in the morning.” I didn’t receive them as promised.
May 27 – Tenant finally provided pictures; however, the measurements were still missing. Tenant assured me that she “would call me with the measurements tonight as she forgot those at home.”
May 31 – I had to get in touch with the Tenant because, again, I hadn’t heard from her as she had promised. I specifically asked for the dimensions of the damage for the 3rd time.
June 1 – Tenant wrote that she would give me the measurements “when she got home” today. Rent was due today, but I didn't receive it.
June 2 – Tenant informed me today (the day after rent is due) that she felt I had taken too long to repair the damage and that she would “repair and deduct.” She now suddenly claimed that the floor was a safety issue, inhabitable, in need of emergency repair and also that I was verbally aware of the needed repair on April 25 (even tho I wasn't). She also claimed that she now felt I was unreasonable in requesting the exact details of the damage, even tho she continued to tell me clear up until yesterday that she would provide me the measurements.
June 4 - I arrived at the townhouse with my girlfriend [name] (who assists with managing the townhouse), and [name], a California contractor, to act as witnesses. We all observed that the floor was in need of repair, but it was not an emergency nor was it a safety issue as the tenant had claimed. Because of the tenants threats on June 2nd and also because she never provided the measurements as she had promised on 3 different occassions, I didn’t attempt to fix the damaged areas. Instead, work began to rip up the parquet off the entire living room floor and install carpet in its place. Tenant unreasonably asked all workers to leave around 1pm even tho the floor was now in a dangerous state -- small pieces of parquet and wire stuck to the glue on the floor.
June 6 – Carpet installation complete.
June 7 – 3 Day Notice to Pay or Quit served to Tenant. Tenant emailed me and stated that she would not personally deliver the rent, as we demanded in the notice, but would mail it.
June 10 – 3 Day Notice deadline. Tenant did not pay rent for the month of June, which was due June 1st.
The majority of our communication with the tenant was via email.
We no longer care about the rent. We are ready to evict this tenant.
I'm very good with details and, at one time in the not too distant past, regularly filed business documents for attorneys. Can I do this eviction myself? Do judges take landlords more seriously when they have an attorney present? Are we obligated to wait for the rent in the mail to be delivered (although we suspect she never mailed it)?
Thanks for reading and any advice!
Monica
My boyfriend and I own a townhouse in Antioch that we rent out to a tenant and her two children. We've already served a 3 Day Notice to Pay or Rent for June's rent that was due the 1st. The deadline for the Notice was Friday and no rent was received. We're nervous that the tenant will make this a long drawn-out process and claim that we're "retaliating." One lawfirm that specializes in evictions actually told me that this type of aggressive tenant could potentially cause us to incur very high attorney's fees -- many times more than the monthly rent. She suggested that I visit this site and recommended a few books that would allow us to evict the tenant ourselves.
Below, I cut-and-paste the summary of events (written from my boyfriend's perspective) that we've already prepared for our expected day in court.
April 15 – Disclosed current state of floor to tenant who agreed it didn’t need repair at that time.
May 9 – Tenant claimed the floor needed repair but didn’t provide details.
May 14 – Flooring professional failed to show at scheduled time to provide an estimate of the damage.
May 17 – I called the Tenant to provide 24 hour notice of entry so that I could personally assess the damage claim. Tenant refused entry and instead insisted that she would provide me the details I needed – measurements and pictures.
May 24 – I had to get in touch with the Tenant because I hadn’t heard from her for a week. I again asked for the details of the claimed damage. She told me the next day that she would “be sure to send that information off to me in the morning.” I didn’t receive them as promised.
May 27 – Tenant finally provided pictures; however, the measurements were still missing. Tenant assured me that she “would call me with the measurements tonight as she forgot those at home.”
May 31 – I had to get in touch with the Tenant because, again, I hadn’t heard from her as she had promised. I specifically asked for the dimensions of the damage for the 3rd time.
June 1 – Tenant wrote that she would give me the measurements “when she got home” today. Rent was due today, but I didn't receive it.
June 2 – Tenant informed me today (the day after rent is due) that she felt I had taken too long to repair the damage and that she would “repair and deduct.” She now suddenly claimed that the floor was a safety issue, inhabitable, in need of emergency repair and also that I was verbally aware of the needed repair on April 25 (even tho I wasn't). She also claimed that she now felt I was unreasonable in requesting the exact details of the damage, even tho she continued to tell me clear up until yesterday that she would provide me the measurements.
June 4 - I arrived at the townhouse with my girlfriend [name] (who assists with managing the townhouse), and [name], a California contractor, to act as witnesses. We all observed that the floor was in need of repair, but it was not an emergency nor was it a safety issue as the tenant had claimed. Because of the tenants threats on June 2nd and also because she never provided the measurements as she had promised on 3 different occassions, I didn’t attempt to fix the damaged areas. Instead, work began to rip up the parquet off the entire living room floor and install carpet in its place. Tenant unreasonably asked all workers to leave around 1pm even tho the floor was now in a dangerous state -- small pieces of parquet and wire stuck to the glue on the floor.
June 6 – Carpet installation complete.
June 7 – 3 Day Notice to Pay or Quit served to Tenant. Tenant emailed me and stated that she would not personally deliver the rent, as we demanded in the notice, but would mail it.
June 10 – 3 Day Notice deadline. Tenant did not pay rent for the month of June, which was due June 1st.
The majority of our communication with the tenant was via email.
We no longer care about the rent. We are ready to evict this tenant.
I'm very good with details and, at one time in the not too distant past, regularly filed business documents for attorneys. Can I do this eviction myself? Do judges take landlords more seriously when they have an attorney present? Are we obligated to wait for the rent in the mail to be delivered (although we suspect she never mailed it)?
Thanks for reading and any advice!
Monica
