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Tenant fighting eviction with 2 yr old incident
by Tired Landlord (CA)
on June 2, 2012 @21:11
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I've filed an Unlawful Detainer suit against my tenant for 2 months of unpaid rent. But their lawyer claims that i owe them rent for 2 months from 2 years ago when they were displaced from the house while we had to fix water damage.
The thing is that my townhouse association housed them in a hotel suite with kitchenette and gave them $50 daily stipend and told them to continue paying me rent in return.
Are they justified in fighting the eviction by using this incident from so long ago. Was it not legal for me to collect this payment in lieu of them being housed elsewhere?
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Re: Tenant fighting eviction with 2 yr old incident
by Anonymous
on June 2, 2012 @22:09
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They can use it BUT the thing is that they were provided free housing with a daily stipend. Nothing came out of their pocket during the repair.
It will come down to a judgement call by the Judge. The one thing I would question if I were a judge is why are they waiting 2 years to stop paying rent and using this incident as an excuse? I would question if they were still employed and if perhaps that was the real reason they weren't paying rent for the last two months.
Get the paperwork, receipts and copies of any correspondence the association has surrounding what they did and communicated to the tenants. I have a funny feeling they are going to claim that all expenses came out of their own pockets. Do you have any written communication from the tenants showing that they stopped paying for any other reason?
I hope you have a lawyer handling this for you since the tenants have lawyered up with one who is not afraid or embarrassed to pull at straws.
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Re: Tenant fighting eviction with 2 yr old incident
by NY-LL
on June 2, 2012 @22:10
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The tenants were not evicted two years ago ...
The tenants were displaced and compensated $1500 per month for necessary maintenance to repair a condition of habitability. The tenants were provided substitute housing and financially rewarded for the inconvenience. The tenants experienced no loss of housing or out-of-pocket monetary expenses, therefore, the tenants do not have a legitimate claim. In addition, the tenants had the option to terminate the lease agreement (at the time of incident) due to the lack of habitability, but failed to exercise the option. The tenants’ lawyer must be a law school drop-out. Happy Eviction!
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Re: Tenant fighting eviction with 2 yr old incident
by Anonymous
on June 3, 2012 @01:22
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Even a bad lawyer would not harm his/her reputation by taking on such a case unless that there is a good chance to win. The Statue of Limitations has not ran out, the lawyer did a little checking and has found a case that has enough merit to be a winner.
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Re: Tenant fighting eviction with 2 yr old incident
by Melanie (CA)
on June 3, 2012 @08:13
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One situation has nothing to do with the other. Carry on with the UD - the blather about their being displaced is a red herring, meant to distract you. And most likely the judge wont buy it either - most likely he will ask "did you pay the rent" and their answer will tell him everything he needs to know. California judges are extremely firm on rent vs no rent
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Re: Tenant fighting eviction with 2 yr old incident
by LL (CA)
on June 3, 2012 @15:16
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Tenants use all kinds of diversionary tactics when faced with eviction.
My experience in the same situation was tenants were served with eviction papers. They hired a lawyer (a friend who didn't want to be paid unless they won monetary damages)who said that eviction was in retaliation to mold issues brought up by tenants.
Truth is, once we got into court and the tenants' lawyer tried this, the judge said "I know what you are trying to do and it won't work in my court". Eviction judges have seen it all and usually know a ruse when they see one. The tenants were evicted.
As someone else posted, the eviction has nothing to do with the other case and I hope your judge sees that. I hope you have all your paperwork from when the HOA housed the tenants. Good luck.
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Re: Tenant fighting eviction with 2 yr old incident
by MrDan (Georgia)
on June 3, 2012 @15:28
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Seems you might have been prevented by law from collecting rent while the rental was not inhabitable. Please read;
California Civil Code Section 1942.4
It states that a landlord may not ask for rent under such conditions......
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