Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

I'm the current leaseholder on an apartment in Los Angeles. The apartment is not rent controlled. My landlord works through a management company, and I received written permission from the management company to sublet my apartment from August - January. I have a written agreement with my subletter, so everything is in writing.

Apparently the gentleman at the management company wasn't actually supposed to give me permission to sublet -- he got fired for a variety of things, including granting me permission, shortly after my subletter took over the apartment. Now the landlord is annoyed at the management company for the fact that there is a subletter in the unit, even though he isn't causing them any real problems.

However, there is currently an issue with parking that is small, but I'm wondering what the worst case scenario would be if the situation escalates. A new tenant moved into another unit, which has an incredibly tiny parking space (you can fit a smart car or motorcycle in it, but that's about it) and his car is simply too big for the space. I have a small car, so if he overlaps on my space when I'm there, it's fine, but my subtenant has a truck. It fits between the lines of the parking space, but is tight, and the new tenant can't take part of the spot when the truck is there so he's annoyed and complained to management. Management called me saying that it was ridiculous to have a truck in that space (even though it fits) and that he needs to move over. The subletter said he'd try his best, but that he was already over as far as he could go, so I'm thinking this issue might not go away.

Basically, my subletter isn't doing anything wrong or illegal, but another tenant is getting annoyed and I'm worried the situation might escalate. If things do escalate what's the worst case scenario? Can the management company evict my subletter if he isn't doing anything wrong? Can they break the lease with me? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!!


Asked on 10/28/09, 1:42 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
George Shers Law Offices of Georges H. Shers

I assume that the truck is just a normal 1/2 ton or so pickup. Those are very common in California and management is being very foolish to complain if that is the type of vehicle, as it is reasonably foreseeable that a tenant using that space would have such a vehicle. If, however, you are speaking of something much bigger, that sized vehicle is not foreseeable, but since it fits fully within the parking space lines that should not matter. You are under no obligation to remedy the developer's mistake in making the adjoining space too small. You rented the space assigned to your unit, but no obligation to assist another parker.

Since the man who gave you permission to sublet did so with obstentable authority [it woudl appear to the average reasonable person that he had the power to so act on behalf of the owner], and you reasonably relied to your potential detriment on his permission [you would have to pay the sublettor for you to break the lease with him] the owner is bound by his agent's agreement.

So, legally you have done nothing wrong. If the landlord tried to evict you, you would win. Will the landlord try to get back at you--perhaps. The only thing you can do is to see if you can get the other tenant to agree to some resolution, but I do not see there is any.

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Answered on 11/02/09, 8:04 pm
Melvin C. Belli The Belli Law Firm

I agree with George, if it is a normal size truck and fits in space then they haven�t done anything wrong. What LL would try to do is claim your subtenant breached some agreement in lease i.e. too big a truck as a way of getting leverage against you and him to get truck out of there. If it is as you say your sub tenant is in right and you should be able to defeat any attempts to evict him. Also doesn�t matter about fired agent he had ostensible authority and LL is stuck with it. He should have been more careful. If they bother either of you, you should go to a lawyer immediately as eviction matters move rapidly. There are plenty of free tenant groups in LA that can assist you for little or no fee. If there is an attorney fee provision in your lease then your lawyer could get fees against the LL when you prevail. This should deter them from filing a bogus eviction.

Good luck.

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Answered on 11/05/09, 11:44 am


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