Legal Question in Business Law in California

My fiance and I own a Tattoo shop in midtown sacramento. We recently fell behind on our rent in our slow season and the landlord says if we dont have 2800 for him by the 5th of january he is evicting us. We dropped 5300 on the deposit, first and last plus three months in advance. In the seven months that we have been living here our landlord did not provide dumpsters for trash, nor did he provide a mail box so plenty of mail was lost as you can imagine. He also told us before we fell behind on rent that our heater was our responsibility..he said we have to climb onto the roof to turn it on. So, us and our customers have been sitting in our freezing shop for weeks now. We also have a sinking, leaking roof as we speak that we asked them to fix, never happened. Is it possible to still get a deposit back even though we still owe for rent given the circumstances??


Asked on 12/19/12, 5:56 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
Seth Wiener Law Offices of Seth W. Wiener

You might have a valid claim for breach of the lease agreement based on the landlord's failure to properly maintain the premises, and could sue the landlord for damages and a return of the security deposit. I would be happy to review your lease agreement, and advise you as to your options.

Read more
Answered on 12/19/12, 7:08 pm
Bryan Whipple Bryan R. R. Whipple, Attorney at Law

I'm less optimistic. This will boil down to whether you are paying te rent on time, and while the various dilapidations you describe are (perhaps) the starting point for a defense, I think the outcome is at least 50% likely to go in the landlord's favor.

Read more
Answered on 12/19/12, 8:12 pm


Related Questions & Answers

More Business Law questions and answers in California