Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California
What do I do?
The situation:�
My tenant stopped paying rent after a few months. First eviction attempt failed. My property manager has been accepting partial rent payments since the first failed eviction. We requested that the property manager stop taking partial payments and evict again. �The property manager tells us the second eviction failed because the judge ruled to take the full amount of one month's rent and allow the tenant to finish occupancy for this month (what loophole is this?!). �This property manager never contacts us about status updates. I have to always track her down to get answers. The lawyer fees are adding up without any resolution. Every time we attempt an eviction, it takes almost two months (7 weeks for this last attempt) to find out it failed. It seems like the tenant knows how to wait until the last minute to get the eviction overturned and continue living in my property. This is in Alameda County in California.�
What do I do?
3 Answers from Attorneys
First you ask some other property owners about good management companies and then tell your current one that they have breached their contract with you by mishandling the eviction process. They should never have taken partial payments and should have been in better contact with you. If you live nearby the rental property, consider managing it yoursel as many property management companies do not really do that much for 5-10% of the rents.
The one area that they are better than you is screening, but if you ask the tenant good questions you might be able to get as good of an impression of their quality as the management company.
I have handled evictions in Oakland and the judges normally try to help the tenant out; this is probably what happened in your case [judge told the tenant they had to leave, but would give them one month to find another place if they paid the rent for that month]. Since you are paying the attorney and are the one with potential liability, demand that the attorney immediately send to you a copy of any court minutes and decisions. Check to see what type of law that attorney practices. There are some very good landlord attorneys [Ed Nagy] who might not charge you as much.
Get a lawyer who knows what he or she is doing. You may have to fire your property manager is he or she cannot follow instructions. Let me know if you want help.
Best,
Daniel Bakondi, Esq.
415-450-0424
The Law Office of Daniel Bakondi, APLC
870 Market Street, Suite 1161
San Francisco CA 94102
http://www.danielbakondi.com
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Fire your property manager and hire your own lawyer, then sue both the property manager and the lawyer he/she hired. If you would like a free consultation in my Oakland office, please contact me at my main office in Walnut Creek. I have over 20 years real estate litigation experience.
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