Ridgeway Law

If you're looking to remove a "month to month" tenant, you need to serve a 30 day or a 60 day notice to quit. 30 days' notice is required if the tenant has lived there less than a year, otherwise 60 days is required. A lot of landlords come to me after their notice expired asking for help with the eviction. The first thing I look at is the notice. Notices to quit are widely available on the internet. Going that route is fine, but make sure it includes the statutorily requir...ed notice about a tenant's right to reclaim any personal property they leave behind. The personal property notice is absolutely required and no eviction can proceed if it's not there. You can create your own notice to quit by using the following form: ----------- To: [List each tenant's name] and all unknown occupants: Please take notice that, effective [30 or 60] days of service of this notice upon you, your tenancy at [state address) is hereby terminated. Rent shall be due as ordinary until the expiration of this notice. Your final month's rent will be prorated unless this notice expires on the last day of the month. Dated: Signed: By: [print landlord's name] NOTICE: State law permits former tenants to reclaim abandoned personal property left at the former address of the tenant, subject to certain conditions. You may or may not be able to reclaim property without incurring additional costs, depending on the cost of storing the property and the length of time before it is reclaimed. In general, these costs will be lower the sooner you contact your former landlord after being notified that property belonging to you was left behind after you moved out.

I was featured [momentarily] in a KPBS story about poor living conditions in a City Heights apartment complex. These tenants are, unfortunately, not alone. It's oftentimes expensive and difficult to prove the habitability defense. The tenant has to prove the landlord knew about the problem and that it is a substantial deviation from health and safety standards. If you can't afford a professional to show up in court and testify for you, the court could find in the landlord's... favor. It will be your word against theirs. And, since you're not a professional, you might not be able to say there's mold, or that the wiring is faulty, for example. You can have all the reports in the world, but they won't be admissible if the author or records custodian doesn't testify. You could compel the witness' attendance at trial with a subpoena, but that requires a process server, timely service, and payment of a witness fee. Even then, all you can do is pray they will show up. After all, the witness fee is only $35 (which goes to the business) and s/he will miss most, if not the entire day's pay. There's not a lot of incentive to testify. Sure, it's a court order, but most contractors know the risk of getting punished by the court for failing to appear is virtually zero. I don't know a lot about the Tenants' Union featured in this story, but I think there's a lot of potential there to help bridge some of the systemic disadvantages facing tenants, at least until law makers decide it's worth addressing. https://youtu.be/2ouzIRX3coY

Can you evict a roommate? You sure can! If you decide to take in roommates, it's best to have a sublease agreement in writing detailing everyone's responsibilities. Even if your lease prohibits subleasing to roommates, you face a bigger risk without an agreement with your roommates. The most common reason to evict a roommate is for non-payment of rent. If you don't have anything in writing, it will be hard for the court to determine whether you overstated the amount of rent... due in your 3-day notice to pay or quit. Even an overstatement of a few dollars could ruin your case. You can still evict a roommate without a written lease, but you will need to show the court other documents showing an agreement to pay a specific sum around the same time every month. That could be emails, text messages, bank statements or cancelled checks. You could also serve a 30 or 60 day notice to quit. Although more time consuming, evictions based on these notices generally don't require any proof besides service of a proper notice.

I just got served with an unlawful detainer and I can't fight it. What can I do? I get this question all the time. The most important advice I have to those facing an unlawful detainer is to stay diligent. Keep track of filing deadlines and attend all court appearances. Many give up hope because they can't afford their rent. But as long as you file your answer within 5 days of being served with the unlawful detainer summons and complaint, you can probably avoid an eviction on... your record. All you have to do is turn the keys over to your landlord or property manager before the case goes to trial, and make sure your landlord's attorney knows about it! Unlawful detainer cases are primarily about recovery of possession of the dwelling. If possession is no longer at issue because the tenant turned over the keys, the case will be converted to an ordinary civil case for breach of contract. If you lose that case, the worst that can happen is a relatively small monetary judgment against you, which you can pay over time. An eviction on your record, on the other hand, will make it very difficult to find another place to live. You may also want to reach out to the landlord's attorney to see if you can negotiate a settlement. Even if you still haven't turned over the keys on the day of trial, show up and try to work something out. Most landlords just want certainty that they will get the property back in a short amount of time. If you're reasonable and commit to vacating the property within a week or so, you may very well avoid an eviction on your record.

Anyone considering buying property in the City of Los Angels should be familiar with new rules requiring homeowners to maintain adjacent sidewalks. Most residential lots extend to the middle of adjacent public roadways, including the sidewalk. Public easements allow people to use the roads and sidewalks. Owners of easement rights (such as the City) are usually responsible for maintaining the easement. In 2016 the Los Angeles City Council changed this rule by amending Sectio...n 62.104 of the Municipal Code. This rule requires homeowners to ensure sidewalks on their lot are maintained, including compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act. There is a sidewalk "warranty period" of 20 years, but the City will not pay more than $20,00 per lot for maintenance. I suspect this change may be in response to numerous ADA lawsuits against the City for its dilapidated sidewalks. Since this law was enacted, the homeless population has also exploded in Los Angels. This ordinance adds insult to injury. Land owners in Los Angels already have a hard enough time living next to homeless encampments. Now they also face liability for ADA violations and fines for the vagrancy problem the City refuses to address. Additionally, state law prohibits insurance companies from covering civil rights claims, including those based on the ADA. Section 62.104 is still fairly new, so the full impact remains to be seen. It should, however, be seriously considered if you plan on living in Los Angels for the foreseeable future.

This photo was taken during the most difficult trial of my career: an adverse possession case against a defendant in pro per who struggled with English. If you simply can't afford an attorney, don't just give up. You will, of course, have a huge disadvantage. However, if you're diligent and reasonable (this man wasn't), you may get a decent settlement. Here's why: By law, judges are supposed to treat pro per litigants the same as attorneys. However, judges are also supposed ...to foster a just result. Good judges will balance these rules. It's frustrating to the attorney because they are held to a much higher standard. The attorney can get sanctioned by the court, punished by the state bar, or sued for malpractice for not following the rules. If a pro per litigant makes a mistake, the court will often let him or her off the hook, and the other consequences attorneys can face don't apply. This situation caused me immense frustration. The defendant was definitely incompetent to handle this case, but he was very diligent. This case did not end well for the defendant because he was unreasonable. He was offered a great settlement before trial, but he wouldn't negotiate, and refused to listen. The point here isn't that you should represent yourself even if you can hire an attorney. If you have the means, it is, of course, ideal to be represented. However, if you simply can't get an attorney, don't give up. Fight back. Work hard, listen, be open to criticism of your case, and settle when you can live with the terms. Note: don't take photos in court. This photo was a nice gesture from my client, but photography is prohibited in the courtroom without permission from the judge.

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Real estate agents rarely have the full scope of knowledge that they need to effectively represent their clients and avoid getting sued. They lack the basic understanding of contract law to effectively educate their clients on what it is they are signing and the consequences and terms of a residential purchase agreement. Learn more https://bit.ly/2OtYetB

What Services Do You Provide In Land Use Consultation And Analysis? Learn here https://bit.ly/2K4qQ70

What Are The Laws Pertaining To Mobile Home Evictions In California? Learn here https://bit.ly/2YbkCLQ

What Is An Unlawful Detainer In California? Learn here https://bit.ly/2XEvpd2

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