rent skimming in unlawful sublet

[lowincome]

here's the situation:

i rented a room from a subtenant not on the rental agreement and i was not put on the agreement either. nothing was put in writing. the "head tenant" hasn't lived there in years, it is (was) a rent-controlled unit in berkeley, california. the guy I rented the room from left the country for a year and he wasn't paying any rent; when he came back he tried to kick me out. he and the head tenant (they're friends) even got a police officer to threaten to arrest me for trespassing if I didn't negotiate with the head tenant. fortunately, the landlord terminated the head tenant's agreement as soon as I told him what had happened and agreed to let me stay if I start a new agreement and can pay market-rate rent.

questions:

1.) the head tenant charged me more than what the rent actually was - rent skimming - do i have a right to sue him for the amount that was overcharged?

2.) do either the head tenant or the subtenant have the right to sue me for
... changing the locks?
... moving the subtenant's belongings into storage in the same building?
... replacing his phone service with a new one?

3.) In your opinion, is it worthwhile to file a complaint against the police officer regarding the above situation.

Thanks,
worried and in limbo

 

[happy&lucky]

You shoulda gotten a lawyer asap....

Here in NYCity if that happened, you could very possibly wind up with the apartment AT the rent controlled rent.

Did you sign a lease with the landlord?

Was anyone taken to court?

There are very strict rules about rent control in CA and NYC, and a landlord just cannot say its not controlled he has to go to court or here in NYC DHCR and they will decontrol the housing.

So the landlord might not be able to charge market rate...especially if he has gotten some real estate tax breaks which must be passed on to the tenants in the form of lower rents.