Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

iI'm a tentant living n my apts for the past three years.i have a wife n two very young children.within these three years we've had to move into three different units(within the same complex)due to unsafe living conditions.we've had several rats n our home which i had to catch all by myself.the worst condition we had was black mold n fungus..at that point the manager blamed us..the mold n fungus was so severe my whole family started get sick everyday with unimaginable symptoms.vomiting,nausea,diarhea..it started growin in our closets and under furniture..at that point we stopped paying rent in full..the mold ate all of our clothing,shoes,etc.we needed money to replace all our damages plus the sickness we had demanded money also...today a bank owns the apts and is under forclosure..we are behind around 1800 dollars and we have an eviction..i do not have a job and i dnt know what to do.can they legally evict us, and if so,how long do we really have?


Asked on 4/11/11, 1:52 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Brian Rosales Harris, Rosales & harris

The breach of the warranty of habitability is a defense to a non-payment of rent unlawful detainer. The first question is whether or not the bank is aware of the conditions in your unit. An argument can be made that an eviction filed by the bank, as the new owner, is not subject to a habitability defense unless they were notified of the problem. If the bank did know about the conditions in the unit, you can defend the action on the habitability basis. These cases are fact specific, you should consult a tenants attorney as soon as you can. Legal Aid may be able to help you if your qualify. This should be done immediatley. I would also point out that if you prevail on the habitability claim, the bank would probably fix the conditions in the unit and you would owe the rent going forward. It is also possible that the court could only reduce the past due rent in your case and you would have to pay the reduced rent.

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Answered on 4/11/11, 2:13 pm


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