Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California
Landlord and tenant
I currently rent an apartment and last week thy installed a smoke detector in my living room without prior notice that they were going to enter my apartment. They then made a hole to install it and covered the hole with drywall. I had painted the wall when i moved in to an avocado color and the drywall is white, so they took it upon themselves to go through my personal belongings in my patio find my paint and paint over the drywall (Doing a bad job btw). My question is can I sue the apartment company for not giving notice and then going through my personal property and using my paint without permission, since I own the paint and they didnt ask if they could use it, so to me its an abuse because if theyre allowed to do whatever they want with my belongings then they could might as well paint my dining table red, they can say hey we did it because we thought its what you would want but at the end of the day you have to ask permission. So my question is do I have a lawsuit there. Thank you.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Landlord and tenant
A landlord must give a tenant reasonable advance notice in writing before entering the unit, and can enter only during normal business hours (generally, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays). The notice must state the date, approximate time and purpose of entry. However, advance written notice is not required under any of the following circumstances:
To respond to an emergency.
The tenant has moved out or has abandoned the rental unit
The tenant is present and consents to the entry at the time of entry
The tenant and landlord have agreed that the landlord will make repairs or supply services, and have agreed orally that the landlord may enter to make the repairs or supply the services. The agreement must include the date and approximate time of entry, which must be within one week of the oral agreement.
If the landlord's violation of the entry rules was significant and intentional, and the landlord's purpose was to influence you to move from the rental unit, you can sue the landlord in small claims court for a civil penalty of up to $2,000 for each violation.
If you would like us to draft a notice letter to your landlord our landlord tenant services offers this legal service for $100.
Yours truly,
Bryan
619.400.4929
877.201.8728
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