Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

My roommate, who is our leaseholder, discovered today that he has been named as a plaintiff in a case against the owner of our apartment building. Another tenant from a different apartment is the party filing suit and he has included my roommate as a plaintiff without my roommate's permission.

Does my roommate have any legal obligation to this suit? I have no details on the nature of the legal action the third party is taking against the property owner but my roommate wants no involvement in the matter. What are his rights under these circumstances?


Asked on 2/24/11, 3:00 am

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

Neither the other apartment tenant nor their attorney has any right to include anyone without their permission as a plaintiff. The attorney can easily get into trouble with the bar association for claiming to represent someone who is not a client. Your roommate should immediately contact the other tenant and their lawyer and insist that he/she be dismissed from the lawsuit and a letter and e-mail be sent to the landlord and the landlord's attorney explaining that they never spoke to the attorney, gave permission to be included as a plaintiff, etc. The landlord is not going to react favorably to anyone who sues him/.her.

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Answered on 2/24/11, 3:14 pm


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