Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

I recently purchased a property that the guest house had an attached 1 car garage that was converted to a bonus/rec room prior to my purchase. I rented it out on a 1 year lease, as a "1 bedroom home with a bonus/rec room." Within the last week of the 2nd month of the tenant living there, she flooded the bonus room due to heavy rains (she failed to see that there was debris on the drain outside the garage door) which cause me to 1) pull up the brand new carpeting & padding, 2) rented a carpet dryer & set up fan until it completely dried. Two days later she claimed that there was mold and she had to go see a doctor and that the doctor told her she had to move out. I told her that I would have it tested for mold if that was case and she just went silent. I immediately went to see her and inspect the room for mold, but I didn't smell anything "musty or moldy" just the smell of new carpeting. She said that she would be staying with her sister and we agreed that I have it aired out with an additional fan, open the window in the room & air out the rest of the house as well. I took it further and I went to the extent of treating it as if there was mold and had it cleaned with detergents, chlorine & treated with borax to avoid mold (there were only 2 walls involved). I tried to reach her and she didn't return my calls, so my thought was she was either very sick or she was up to something. I called her again to let her know the carpet installers would be showing up to and I would be there as I would need to pay them.

She finally called back to say that she contacted the city (for what reason?) and that the city had on file that they had tagged the home as "inhabitable" because of the garage having been converted (prior to my purchase of the property) and that they told her that she could move out, break the lease and that she would be entitled to all her deposits.

So my questions are, after all this, could it be that she was trying to get out the lease? Can she call the city to tag or claim the house as "inhabitable" to get out of the lease & get all her deposits returned? I live in the same city and my home also had a converted garage (converted to storage room) and it has now been over 10 years & they have yet to contact me. So, can the city tag a house as "inhabitable" because there is attached garage that is being used as a bonus/rec room? If so, then wouldn't this just affect the garage?


Asked on 2/01/10, 12:41 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
George Shers Law Offices of Georges H. Shers

Sure she reported you to the city to get out of her lease. Your argument that the City would only act against the converted garage makes sense. The conversion does not create a health and safety issue [they might argue that it could be unsafe bebause not inspected by city to see up to code] merely that no permit was taken out. Normally the city would either order it torn down or that you pay for the permits and have the City inspect it now. They would also place a notie on the building and not just in the file that it was "uninhabitable" and they definitely would contact you. Go down to the city hall and look up your property file to see what the actual status is. Later call tehm wihout giving your name as find out what their procudure would be and what they would demand of you.

Complaints about the condlition of the building can not be used by the tenant to justify the withholding of rent if they caused the condition. She apparently was at least partly at fault for the flooding; demand that she pay you for your expenses. You mihgt be able to give her a three day notice for the damaging of property. You certainly need to evict her as she will be nothing but trouble in the future [she will try to argue that she is protected under the provision of a tenant complaining about a health issue, but the city has not informed you of that type of problem yet].

Before the wrong judge this could turn into a major financial headache. Go to a local attorney who has dealt with the city often who can advise you of the best way to proceed. It will be well worth the money you pay.

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Answered on 2/06/10, 5:14 pm


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