Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

Re: 3 Day Pay/Quit

Thank you for clarifying what you meant. If the landlord never signed the rental agreement, you may have a problem, and may have to pay the additional rent. In theory, without a written rental agreement executed by both parties, the lease is now going to be an oral lease, the terms of which are going to be determined by the intent of both parties when it was entered into. You may be able to use the lease (which I assume he prepared) as evidence of what you two agreed to, but he's going to counter with the application with the higher rent, and point to the fact that he never signed the rental agreement because it was wrong. Its going to be up to a court to decide who is right as there is no real black-and-white rule here that will determine what happened. Certainly, his having accepted the lower rent amount for the past six months will help you establish that there was an agreement at the lower amount, but its not proof-positive. Unfortunately, you will either have to pay the $180 within the 3 days, or go fight an eviction in court, and try to convince the judge that the rental agreement was for the lower amount. If you lose, you'll have an eviction on your record, owe the landlord the money plus potentially fees and costs, and finally, you'll be evicted by the local law enforcement within a week of the Court date. Do be aware, however, that your having signed the application with the higher amount is going to be a tough pressumption to overcome that you agreed to the higher rent amount.

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