Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

My mother leased an apartment 10 months ago. She was 84 yrs. old and quite healthy. Since about March or April of 2010, my sister and I began to notice that she was saying some strange things, which though we didn't know at the time were symptoms of a slowly progressing case of dementia.

When she first moved in she had mentioned that she saw a couple of bugs, and didn't believe THAT was a very good sign. So I asked the manager about it and she told me it was no problem the pest control guys come only on Thursdays, and they would come any Thursday with advance notice, and the cupboards all emptied, So, I bought some spray at Costco(supposedly good for 12 months), sprayed for her, and figured all was well.

Fastforward six months, and my mothers condition has progressed to the point where the manager, at my mothers apartment complex, had called me and my sister, upon several occasions, for varied reasons, having to do with my mother at their office, confused.

Immediately thereafter, I, her son, moved in with her on an indefinite basis, as we did not believe she should be alone anymore.

Within the first 24 hours that I began staying with my mom, I noticed and was appalled to discover many cockroaches coming out at night in the kitchen, on the counter and floor.

The next day I spoke with Courtney, the manager, and was given the same cooperative answer, about emptying the cupboards, and so on. So we made a plan right then and there to fumigate, a week from the current Thursday.

That went as scheduled, and the pest control guy told me that I should not expect to see dead roaches for about 4 to 7 days, which was distressing, but that they would continue to die.

All true except that after about 8 days, they came back with a vengeance. Without boring you with the true details, of which I firmly believe, one would automatically assume are exaggerations, and although, as I have stated, the manager has been willing to deal with the infestation by normal means, the fact becomes obvious that my mother has resided here for 10 months, in truly uninhabitable conditions that the owner, or agent of the owner never eradicated.

As to the question. Assuming what I have stated, is at the very least accurate, is it reasonable to assume that the ownership should have to compensate, either all, or some portion of the rent she has paid, to have lived in these conditions? And secondarily, assuming that these conditions will be proven to be housing code violations; what type of an attorney might I seek out?


Asked on 9/01/10, 9:19 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

You and/or your mother's right to compensation would only come into play AFTER there is a finding of a housing code violation. In addition, a problem you will face is that insect infestations are almost always disupted by the property owners, because tenant conduct has such a significant impact on them (rodents too). I had tenants who left a bowl of dog food inside the back door in a little area between a door to the kitchen and the stairs to the basement, and left the back door open for their dog to come in and out. When rats who came for the food decided to stay, and were nesting in their things stored in the basement, and in the insulation under the range in the kitchen, they tried to sue me for uninhabitability. They not only lost, on my cross-complaint they wound up paying the cost of all the cleanup, including a new range, and they wound up on the street. I'm not saying your mother is responsible for the infestation, but I am saying that with a tenant suffering from advancing dementia, and with roaches being an available-food-source problem, the landlord at the very least has an opening to contend that her housekeeping caused the infestation to spiral out of control. So you might be a lot better off either working with the manager to find a way to get rid of the bugs, or just move.

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Answered on 9/06/10, 11:52 pm


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