Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California
I was renting a house for about nine months from my Professor who went on a world trip with his family. There were no paper contracts, everything was verbal agreement. About half way living there, the owners sister brought back his truck and wanted us to watch over it. She originally parked it in the driveway, but my roommates and I wanted to use the driveway. So I parked his truck in the street for the remainder of time I was there.
The last week I was living there, someone had vandalized his car with some sort of paint remover. At first it looked like someone had put dirt on his car and it looked wet and I thought nothing of it. A few days before he moved back into his home the paint actually stripped off. The strip of missing paint is 3 inches wide by 3 or 4 feet long.
He owes me $800 because I had only stayed halfway through the last month living there and he claims that I must pay $3,500 to have his truck repainted and refuses to give me my money back. Anyone could have vandalized his truck, I know that I was somewhat responsible for watching over his truck, but I don't think it's physically possible for me to watch it 24/7. There was no verbal agreement between my Professor and I for me being responsible for his truck either.
Am I legally responsible for the damage done to his truck?
2 Answers from Attorneys
I doubt it, unless you were negligent or were the person who did the vandalization.
Probably not, but I would want to know the terms of your agreement with the homeowner. I would also want to know more about the circumstances.
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