Frances Miller Campbell’s Answers

The sale of the property, at auction or otherwise, does not change your rights. If you are in a rent-controlled unit, you may only be evicted for cause, for one of 13 reasons. One of those legal reasons is if the owner wants to move in. HOWEVER, If the new owner wants to move in, he has to hold the property in his own name (and not in an LLC or other business form), and he must own at least 25% of the property. The new owner will not be able to evict you for owner-move-in if there is...

Dear Tenant, I am licensed in California. Please note that only licensed attorneys can give you legal advise in the state of California. For an unlicensed person to give legal advice in California is a crime, and I believe that applies equally to website postings. First of all, I see that you are in Los Angeles. You should call the Los Angeles Housing Department (866) 557-RENT and ask for a Code Enforcement Inspection. You should do the same with the Los Angeles County Environmental...

Wow. That's a really broad question, but I'll try to answer it, first in the lawyerly way, and then in the normal-person way. A "nuisance" is, by definition, "Anything which is injurious to health, including, but not limited to, the illegal sale of controlled substances, or is indecent or offensive to the senses, or an obstruction to the free use of property, so as to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property ...." Civil Code section 3479. A landlord can evict you for "...

The NOVs have to be certified if you want to introduce them "for the truth of the matter" at trial. For example, if the NOVs are certified, you can introduce them to prove there was a broken window ONLY IF they are certified. Why do they tell you you have no evidence? Well, probably because they are lawyers and you're not, and they are trying to psych you out. Lawyers say that to me all the time--it's bluster. If you REALLY had no evidence, it's unlikely that they would mention it to you....

Wow, tenant--you really need a lawyer for this lawsuit. The Court can take "Judicial Notice" of the former eviction--that means the Court can look at its own files to see that the eviction was filed, or what happened in the eviction action. Watch those notices of violations--they are NOT admissible unless they are certified (or unless the landlord admits he received them).

The fact that the landlord was losing possession and could not perform under the commercial lease is definitely a material fact that should have been disclosed by the realtor. I would say she is on the hook for your damages. You might want to report this to the Department of Real Estate.

Yes, the letters are evidence of what you told the landlord, and evidence that the landlord received the communications.

If you can prove the landlord acted "in bad faith," then you should try to obtain triple the entire deposit. Realistically, though, I do not think that most Judges will award more than the amount of money that was wrongfully withheld. Hiring a company to file the paperwork probably is not recoverable. If your lease had an attorney's fees provision ,if you can prove you consulted with an attorney to help you prepare the lawsuit, then that money would also be recoverable.

I certainly disagree with the last poster. I would argue that the publication of those photos IS illegal, and that your guy-friend has committed the tort of invasion of privacy via publication of private facts. Here's how the Supreme Court describes the tort (civil wrong): Applying existing California tort law, the plurality opinion holds that to establish a cause of action for invasion of privacy by publication of private facts the plaintiff must show that a private fact was publicly...

Dear Tenant, The other lawyers are correct, expect that if your landlord wants to raise your rent 10% or more, he has to give you 60 days written notice of the increase. If he is raising the rent less than 10%, he has to give 30 days written notice. There is no provision in the law in California that triggers an automatic rent increase because someone comes to visit you.