Legal Question in Constitutional Law in California

I rent a mobile home in the back yard of a residence. Code enforcement came and said trailer needs to be removed. The landlord said we need to move and provided no 30 day notice as required by law. I emailed code enforesment informing them I am a tenant and there was no proper notice. The next day code enforcement comes and tells landlord 15 days to have trailer removed. Still no notice.


Asked on 7/07/15, 12:31 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Edward Hoffman Law Offices of Edward A. Hoffman

[My answer assumes that the trailer is there illegally and that the agency which ordered it removed has the authority to do so. One or both of those things could be false. You may want to look into that possibility. I also assume that the landlord would normally have to give you 30 days' notice, though that also might not be true.]

Your question is about landlord-tenant law, but you posted it under constitutional law. Please re-post it under the right category. More lawyers with the relevant expertise will see it there, and future users with similar questions will be more likely to find it.

Having said that:

You should ask your landlord what he intends to do. He might not plan to remove the mobile home as ordered. He might even have a legal basis to refuse. (For example, it's possible that he'll challenge the order and that it would become unenforceable in the meantime.) I don't have enough information to say what would happen in that scenario. At some point the government might be able to remove the mobile home despite the owner's wishes. I don't know when that might happen, but you won't want to be living there when and if it does.

Where the 30-day rule applies, it restricts the landlord but not the government. The government doesn't have to give the landlord 30 days to stop violating the law. If he can't give you 30 days' notice, then that's his fault and not the government's, since he's the one who rented you a home that he might have to remove abruptly. So even if the lack of notice gives you a legal claim, the claim would only be against the landlord.

The agency might be willing to work with you, but it probably doesn't have to give you more time than it already has. Even the 15 day deadline might be for your sake; it's possible that the original order gave the landlord less time.

As I said, please re-post this question under landlord-tenant law. Better yet, you may want to contact some tenants'-rights lawyers directly.

Good luck.

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Answered on 7/07/15, 12:57 pm


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