Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

I would like to do the paid answer, but I have very low funds in my bank account so I am rolling the dice on the free question.

I am a subtenant in Oakland, CA., having trouble finding the answer to my specific questions online, as they relate to Oakland. I have been renting a room from a friend for 16 months. He is the only one on the rental agreement with the landlord. There is a, “no sublet” clause in his month to month rental agreement. I did not know this when I moved in. I thought he informed the landlord and did not find out otherwise until much later. I only have an oral agreement with my roommate, but I do have proof of paying him rent and plenty of documentation to show I have been living here long enough to establish tenancy and the kinds of agreements we had.

Early this year my roommate went through a painful break up. He abandoned his three cats to my care for more than three months. When he returned, he said that he had decided to move back to Southern California. He also invited a former girlfriend who is unstable and violent to move in under the premise that she would be only caring for the cats for a short time while I would be away. This is all I agreed to. She has been here for more than 20 days. During this time she has intimidated and harassed me, threatened my life and physically assaulted me. My roommate refuses to send her home despite witnessing her strangle me. This happened on June 20 and I am still unable to speak above a whisper or swallow solid food without choking or a great deal of pain. I have been unable to sort or pack any of my possessions in the apartment common areas while the person who assaulted me is on the premises, which is most of the time, because I fear for my safety. I lock myself in my room and only make very quick excursions to the bathroom or kitchen.

I have filed a police report and am taking steps to get a restraining order, however, a big concern is that while my roommate has told me he is going to give the landlord notice at some point, he has not been specific about whether he has actually given it, what date he has given and he has not given me a specific notice and nothing formal or in writing. I am on SSDI and have absolutely no savings so it is imperative that I know how much time I have to try to raise money. The less time I have, the higher my likelihood of becoming homeless.

He first mentioned he was “thinking of” giving the landlord 30 days notice, via chat, on June 7 when he knew I was about to leave town for 8-10 days. Because I was leaving, this was essentially only giving me 20 days notice. On June 9, we had a verbal discussion which resulted in my understanding that we had agreed on 90 days. A day later, he told me he thought he was going to give the landlord a date of August 1. When I challenged that, he became angry and refused to speak further.

I suspect that he is planning to give the landlord written 30 day notice when he pays the rent for July on Monday. I do not plan to try to stay. I don’t make enough to secure the apartment for myself and the landlord will be able to update the unit and double the rent for the next tenant so I doubt they would be interested. My roommate is convinced he has no obligation to me and can just throw me out on the street with no notice if he wants to. He also thinks that if I am still here after he vacates that it will just be between me and the landlord.

From everything I have read, it seems likely that he has most of the same obligations to me as his landlord has to him, that he is not allowed to harass or intimidate me into leaving, that he should give me specific written notice and that it should be 60 days, rather than 30 because I have lived here more than a year. However, I can’t find this exact information for Oakland, Ca or Alameda County, CA. I have considered speaking to the apartment manager because I know my roommate has violated two sections of his rental agreement. 1) Subletting to me 2) Allowing a guest (his girlfriend) to stay more than 2 weeks but I am concerned that this may make my situation worse.

As a subtenant am I entitled to:

1) Know exactly when I need to vacate the premises?

2) Receive notice of this in writing?

3) Demand that this violent person leave?

4) As a disabled person, do I have any additional rights or leverage?

5) What are my risks in telling the landlord what is going on? I do plan to leave and do not want an eviction filed against me.

Can you answer any of these questions?

Thanks

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