Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California
I sublet a bedroom in a 4 bedroom apartment. The sublessor lives with me, but has his own room.
The sublessor openly advertised the room on Craigslist with pictures and, after further inquiry, stated that his old housemates moved out, and he was left with the burden and responsibility of filling the rooms. Additionally, he made several claims that the landlord knew that he was subletting and consequently I signed a sublease agreement with him for the room I'm currently in.
Sorry, a lot of back story. Anyways 2 weeks into it and sublessor tells me, that he is going to court to recover funds that he spent out of pocket for major repairs. Come to find out, just a few days later that he is in fact getting evicted and going to court for an unlawful detainer summons. I could go on and on, I won't. Bottom line, sublessor, my self and the other housemate have to vacate, (received 5 day notice from sheriff). Question: can I go to the police to report sublessor for fraud and/ or embezzlement? Because it seems to me there is overwhelming evidence of:
,
intentional deception of a victim by false representation or pretense with the intent of persuading the victim to part with property and with the victim parting with property in reliance on the representation or pretense and with the perpetrator intending to keep the property from the victim.[6].
In other words, he misrepresented the room for rent and persuaded me to part with my property (money), with the full intention of pocketing both rent and deposit. I relied fully on the information and signed documents I was given. I've come to find out that sublessor was served eviction papers nearly 2 months prior to subleasing the to me. He is now claiming he owes me nothing because I am "living in his house for free". It's criminal fraud with all the elements, no?
Or how about criminal embezzlement? Sublessor intentionally decieved me into giving him rent and deposit for the purposes of personal gain. I had full trust in his authority to collect rent and deposit and effectively pay rent to landlord for the apartment. He missed represented and misappropriated ALL funds straight to his pockets. My question: how do I get this asshole? Am I on the right track? FYI. I am in Los Angeles, California. I want him in cuffs.
1 Answer from Attorneys
You can report whatever you want, and it does sound like you may have a Penal Code 484 violation, "Theft by Trick." However you should not get your hopes up that the police and DA will take an interest in the case. Just as the CHP doesn't stop and ticket every speeder, the LAPD and DA do not have the resources to investigate and prosecute every crime. Where it is a purely financial crime, there is a civil court remedy, i.e., you can sue somebody for it directly in Small Claims or Superior Court, and the amounts involved are small, they are extremely unlikely to expend resources prosecuting it. No harm filing the report anyway, but more importantly you should get a Small Claims or Superior Court case on file and serve him with it while you still know where to find him.
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