Landlord selling his house...

[golfpapi]

update: after some emails back and forth (and I suggested going to a 3rd party mediator), the landlord has backed off on all his requests with his broker. they won't bother us at all until we move out. thanks to everyone who offered feedback.

 

[irvinerealtor]

I would demand that you control the lockbox. You can lock the house (change the locks or put on deadbolts etc) if they don't cooperate.

Remember that you control 99% of the cards here and the landlord has to do what you say. If the landlord doesn't cooperate get more and more aggressive. Stop paying rent (use the security deposit to cover it), change the locks, remind them that you don't have to vacate, etc. You have the rent money, you have the home, you can change the locks. The landlord can sue - but it's very expensive to sue.

^^ My .02c is that the bolded items above are extraordinarily bad advisories. All of these suggested actions are breaches of contract and will diminish your odds of success in getting what you want. It is more expensive to be sued and lose. I have over a decade of professionally representing more tenants than landlords, so I'm not biased but just trying to be informative.

-IR2

 

[paperboyNC]

^^ My .02c is that the bolded items above are extraordinarily bad advisories. All of these suggested actions are breaches of contract and will diminish your odds of success in getting what you want. It is more expensive to be sued and lose. I have over a decade of professionally representing more tenants than landlords, so I'm not biased but just trying to be informative.

-IR2

Disagree. If a landlord is violating your rights as a renter by showing a home without giving you proper notice and you'd documented it in writing you are well within your rights to change the locks. It is not a first resort - you document everything and put in writing and warn the landlord of the consequences.

As a renter you can make the landlord's life extremely difficult. You should only use extreme steps as a last resort and you should only threaten them after good faith attempts at negotiation. Most likely a landlord will cave rather than deal with negative consequences.

I had a landlord once that refused to fix the garage door because they claimed I crashed into it with a car (I didn't). I got a garage door repairman to come out and look at it and tell them the real problem and told them I was not paying rent until it was fixed (it had been broken for over a week at that point and was stuck open). They fixed it a few hours later.

 

[irvinerealtor]

You're welcome to disagree, but just know that you're playing a risky game of chicken. I apologize to you for being critical of your opinions, but the facts are self-evident. Per the boilerplate CA lease agreement terms:

If the owner really did want any excuse to get the tenant out as soon as possible, the advice has given that owner several weapons to evict the tenant that he otherwise wouldn't have had, because the tenant is now breaking the contract.

For breaking the terms of the lease, the tenants' 30/60 day notice protection is lost, and the landlord now has the option to unilaterally cancel in 3 days... Additionally, if the tenant is then unwilling/unable to leave in the allotted time, you can add an unlawful detainer (eviction) possibility to their outcome, which will travel with them on future personal history reports. This makes renting in the future much more difficult, as well.

If the owner has not given proper notice as defined by the contract, then the tenant has every right to deny access at that time.
However, the "But-but-but he started it!" defense does not find much success in the courtroom (or with mom, ever).

It's free advice, so do with it as you will. Just trying to be helpful to the masses.

Thank you,
-IrvineRealtor

 

[paperboyNC]

You're welcome to disagree, but just know that you're playing a risky game of chicken. I apologize to you for being critical of your opinions, but the facts are self-evident.

CA law states that you can make your own repairs and deduct them rent if certain conditions are met (biggest one being that you have to have given the landlord written notice and sufficient time to make the repairs).

You can give the landlord copies of the new keys but still have a deadbolt that can't be unlocked from the outside. You can also mail the landlord a copy of the new key that takes a while to get there.

There are a lot of ways to make the landlord's life difficult without violating the lease or breaking the law. Things are not black and white.

When I had issues like this I got a free consultation with a lawyer and was very careful in how I proceeded to make sure I was within my rights. I also borrowed a copy of the several hundred page tenant / landlord book from the library and read up on the relevant sections.

 

[irvinehomeowner]

I'm not sure about the deadbolt lock without giving the owner a key.

That sounds highly illegal to me because they still own the property and you are basically preventing access to it.

 

[paperboyNC]

I'm not sure about the deadbolt lock without giving the owner a key.

That sounds highly illegal to me because they still own the property and you are basically preventing access to it.

As long as you make sure they have access every time they need it you are fine. Most hotel rooms and apartments have locks that can only be unlocked from the inside for instance. In a home you can leave through the garage and not unlock that front lock. When I rented a home I did that all the time.