Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

To whom it may concern,

My name is Veronica Hernandez and I am a second year student at UCR. I was previously residing at The Timbers on Iowa and Blaine in the city of UCR. On the day of March 22nd an ex boyfriend came to my house and forced himself inside. We began to argue and I decide to leave but he decides to take my keys from me. Our manager comes up and lets us know we must be quiet or they will have to call the police. We apologize, I tell him to leave and I go outside to my balcony. My roomate later comes to tell me there's someone at the door, I open it and there are two police men pointing tazers and us. They yell "Where is he!?" I say he's not here, I told him to leave. They tell me I am lying and they threaten to arrest me. They make us get out of the apartment. One officer goes into the apartment without asking and it turns out my ex was in the bathroom trying to figure out why the bathroom wasn't flushing.( The water was not running at that time) I did not press charges because I remember that pressing charges against my step father for domestic violence did not stop him from coming back and beating us twice as hard. Now a day later I get a notice from my apartment : "The Timbers", stating that I created a Nuisance and I must move out in 3 days or I will be sued. Since this was filed on the weekend I had to wait till Monday to contact the lawyer who the apartment filed this claim with and I made it so that my roomate would not be kicked out but I had to surrender my keys that same day. I read over our contract with the apartment and there are no consequences stated in the contract for anything, including created a nuisance. My roomate will be moving out soon because they are asking for her to find another roomate in 2 days or she too will be evicted. My questions are, is there a certain amount of time that a renter gives a resident when they are told to evacuate the premisses? Also, can they hold our deposit even though there are no statements in the contract saying anything about a withholding of the deposit unless there are damages to the apartment? I feel that even though I was the victim in this situation I am being punished and any answer that could lead me to a solution would really help. Thank you so much for your help and I hope to hear from someone soon. -Veronica Hernandez


Asked on 3/28/12, 1:06 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
George Shers Law Offices of Georges H. Shers

Any contract automatically incorporates relevant state law. Creating a nusiance that can not be cured is a basis for a three day notice. Failure to correct the problem within the three days means the landlord can then file an unlawful detainer against you, but it might take 4-8 weeks before getting a judgment and having the sheriff evict you.

It is questionable whether the landlord had a valid basis to evict you. Unless it was likely that the same type of incident would occur in the future, you were not maintaining a nuisance [e.g., repeatly not using the garbage can outside would be a continuing type of nuisance, which could be cured during the three days by using it].

Within 21 days of your leaving, the landlord has to return all of your deposit unless there are damages beyond normal wear and tear. Be sure to tell him what part of the deposit is yours and what part your roommate's. It may be a situation where it never was made clear to him who put up what so he may try to hold the hold thing back until your roommate has been gone for 21 days.

In the future, it is best if you do not use your name as it does not help us give you an answer and might embarrass you. Also, when the police ask you a question, be sure of your answer before stating something that might turn out wrong.

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Answered on 3/28/12, 4:16 pm


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