Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

My landlored has filed an unlawful detainer and served me with a summons and attached is rental agreement he forged. He is trying to say I pay 3500.00 rent when I pay 3k. I filed an answer and attached my bank records but I'm not sure if this will be enough to win against him and his laywer. It is obviously not my signature. We did have a verbal agreement for 3k and 4k deposit and he claims it was a 1400.00 deposit. He also has two payments from me for rent this month because my regular rent check was returned NSF(this was the only time this ever happened) and it was due to the bank holding a check for 5 days. When he got the check back he called asked me to bring the cash so I went to the bank and took the moneyto him. I said he could just rip my check and I apologized. The next day I found out he went back to the bank and cashed the check too. He claims he didn't do it but his bank record and mine show differently so now he tried to say he gave it back and that is a lie. I filed and answer I wanted to add more detail but I thought I should keep it simple. Oh and last but not least his wife is getting flooded with forclosure letters at our address and he sold her the house a while back. any advice on weather or not I have a snowballs chance in hell of winning, would be greatly appreciated.


Asked on 10/14/09, 12:40 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

George Shers Law Offices of Georges H. Shers

If you can prove what you have said, you should win. You seem articulate so while you might need more detailed advise from an attorney as to what you should argue and produce, you probably can handle the court appeaance.

I assume that he served you with a three day notice and that is the basis of the suit, and not also a thirty day notice to leave because he is not renewing the month to month tenancy. If he accepted any payment from you for any part of the period cited in the 3 day notice, that negates the notice and suit and he must reserve you with a new notice as to what rent is owed and for what periods of time.

If the above does not apply, then it becomes a "he said she said" argument. Bring in your check register and perhaps copy of yor bank's web statement of the transactions as to your checking account [make copies of the relevant pages and put on one sheet of paper; balnk out account number and other irrelevant data you do not want others t see]] to show what you paid per month, the amount of the down payment, that he cashed your check that he denies cashing [you might want to file a cross-complaint against him for that money], and to prove any other facts to which he is lying. If there is more than 30 days before the trial date, you could send to him written requests to produce documents to find out if he has any documents. You will emphasize to the judge that you are producing documents to prove your testimony and he has produced nothing to either refute your testimony and exhibits or prove his, so he has failed to carry his burden of proof.

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Answered on 10/14/09, 1:55 am


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