Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

I started attending a school that was located over 100 miles away from where I live. I decided to look for room to rent that was close to the school so I would not have to make the long commute everyday. I found an ad for a room on a roommate finder site online. The landlord advertised the room rent coming with full house privileges , a cable box in the room, in a happy environment. I explained my situation that I would only be needing a place to rent for approx 3-4 mos til I finished school and the landlord agreed to allow me to rent on a month to month basis til I completed school. I ended up moving in. About 3 weeks after moving in landlord had cable box removed from my room as well as the other tenants rooms( she rented 2 other rooms out as well in her home) removing the box meant there would be no cable service to the TV in my room , forcing me to have to pay for cable service seperatly on top of the monthly rent( which was suppose to include cable service). Also what seemed to be a calm environment where everyone got along turned out to be the complete opposite. I quickly found out that the landlord and other tenants had an ongoing argument and landlord had been trying to evict the other tenants for 6 mos prior to her advertising the room and me moving in. This caused me to run to my room and lock the door ,when I would return after school. Often times the landlord would catch me coming in the front door and insist that I hear her side of the story and wanted me to take her side on the issues. I wanted no part of whatever their issues were that they were having. Then one day the landlord saw me talking to the other tenant about my day at school, and I guess it upset her cause she locked me out , placing a chair in front of the front door so I could not use my key to get in. She finally moved the chair after I banged on the door for several min for her to let me in. The landlords behavior was very erratic, and often it felt like she did things on purpose to cause problems. She would turn on a huge fan that made the whole house shake and was very loud at 1 or 2 in the morning, which was right next to my room. It would wake me up it was so loud. Or she would vacuum the wood floor in the hallway in front of my door , at 6 am in the morning. Cops were called several times due to her crazy behavior and her pulling a knife on one of the other tenants. After 2 mos of this going on she finally admitted to me that She knew that there were problems going on between her and the other tenants long before she rented out the 3rd room, and basically admitted to misleading me into moving in to what I thought was a respectable quiet environment. Then the landlord decided to install several cameras throughout the home inside and out. Including in the living room, kitchen, as well as in the backyard with view of the pool which we were allowed to use as well. This made me feel very uncomfortable especially when I found out that they were hooked up through wofi so she could view it from her phone, and her brother could also view it , whom I had never even met before . The thought that some guy would be watching me and my 5 yr old daughter in our bathing suits while out swimming just creeped me out .it became such a hostile environment that I did not feel comfortable having my child there to visit with me, I was forced to pack my things and move out. Are there any grounds here to file a law suit. Landlord was very misleading and failed to mention that there was often loud noises through out the night, and early morning, and about the constant ongoing fighting going on between her and the other tenants. As well as her locking me out placing a chair in the door way so I could not even use my key to get into the house after a long day at school. And now I have to make arrangements with my school to take a temp leave until I can find another place to stay in the area . I may end Up having to stay at hotels since it will be very difficult to find a place to rent on such short notice for such a short rental time(only another 4weeks of school) also the cameras. Don't tenants renting rooms have a reasonable expectancy to privacy ? And she's got caneras that can be viewed by more then just herself, but allowing her brother as well who does not live there, whom I never have met . Any help or advise would be greatly appreciated.


Asked on 8/03/15, 10:02 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Nicholas Spirtos Law Offices of Nicholas B. Spirtos

That is a really long post. The simple answer is that you should move out immediately, demand a refund of any unused rent and find a new place to stay. It may be simpler to stay in a motel for the next few months. If your landlord does not refund you any money, you could sue her in small claims court. Technically, on a month to month lease, you are required to give 30 days notice. But in your case, staying that long could be hazardous. Just move out. Worry about the money later.

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Answered on 8/04/15, 9:01 am


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