Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in California

Re: threats/hostage/assults/claiming money owed

Its hard to say with any accuracy how a court is going to deal with this. Its going to come down to a question of who appears to be more truthful in court, because really a judge has nothing to go by except your son's word versus the landlord's word. If he is ever sued, you will want to raise several defenses including the existence of an oral lease agreement by which your son't work served as the consideration for rent, waiver and/or laches which essentially say that by failing to assert his alleged right to collect rent, the landlord should now be barred from attempting to collect the rent now. I would also probably assert a setoff against the landlord for the value of your son's work on his property. Again, without a written agreement, its going to be a war of the words, so build your case now with any witnesses who you may be able to find who heard the landlord acknowledge the agreement. Good luck.

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