Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

technically my aunt owns the condo which i live in. its really my dads (his money used to pay morguage) but he had it put in her name so it wouldnt be leveied after some people tried to sue him. well he recently was arrested for selling drugs. they day after he bonded out, my uncle (who is an ex LAPD came to the condo with a Long Beach Seriff and told me I had to be out in 3 days. well they had me step outside, ran mine and my boyfriend who does not reside there name, while my uncle "inspected the house" The reasoning for all this being that the property "is in my aunts name and they are not going to have a drug forclosure on her name. well since there was nothing wrong with the property my uncle said he would give me 5 days to get my stuff out. and informed me that my dad "will be going back to prison" and they are selling it before its seized. I was unable to get all my stuff, only a few items and clothes. i still have my keys. it has been 3 weeks now since i have been sleeping in my truck. i pay my dad what i can for rent and bills. for the last 3 years he has been okay with that. his residency/mailing address is that of the condo but he stays in another city with his girlfriend. the condo is not his home, if u know what i mean. he only comes there when he is has to meet with people he deals with in long beach. kind of like his "homebase/club house" ontop of all this, i guess neighbors have complained to the homeowners assosiation that i was disrupting "they quality of life" since me and my boyfriend have been in a few arguments. also, they said my dog was disrubting their "quality of life" because he howls when i am gone. Pets ARE allowed. I have never been informed of any of these complaints untill after i was told i could not go back over there, and if i did i would be tresspassing and thrown in jail. My aunt told the homeowners assosiation that she is mad at my dad and is "debating" weather or not to sell the property. She wants nothing to do with it because she is trying to save face. and asked the assosiation to inform her of any violations that my dad may be doing still to help her make her decision. So he is "fixing up the place" to show but that is not true all he did was throw my stuff away since i did not have it out in 5 days. EVERYTHING!! I have not been served with any sort of paperwork. no "fix the problem or i get evicted" papers/ no "i have to leave" papers not even anything about me being a disturbance. I did recieve 1 paper from the homeowners assosiation telling me the rules about dogs after my 5 days was up because my dad said i could still go over there if i was with him but i could not been seen because if my aunt found out she would call the cops on me. that paper about the dog is dated. I am very confused with all of this and am trying to do the right thing, but i am getting screwed because now they changed the locks even though i was still going over there sometimes because i have no place else to go. my roomate who lived with me is my dads friend and he gets to stay there when he wants and got a new key. my dad has a new key and slowley packing his stuff either for jail but mainly just hanging out there selling his drugs since he acts like he isnt out on bond. please help me


Asked on 6/30/11, 10:58 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
David Gibbs The Gibbs Law Firm, APC

First, if the home is titled to your aunt, then she owns it. Regardless of who pays the mortgage, she is the legal owner of the property. Dad may have a claim against her for a share of the property, but so long as his name is not in title, he has no legally recognizeable ownership interest of record. The uncle who threw you out, however, is completely liable for violating landlord-tenant law. Irrespective of who your landlord is, if you were there ostensibly with the owner's permission (I assume that the aunt never asked you to move out), then they must give you proper, legal notice before you can be evicted. The uncle and possibly the aunt by authorizing the uncle to throw you out is liable for wrongful eviction. Your only right, however, is to sue him and your aunt for damages. They are also liable for illegally dumping your property. Civil Code � 1965 and 1980-1991 provide for a very specific procedure for disposing of the property of a tenant when it is believed to have been left and abandoned. There are damages available to you for their having dumped your personal property.

You need to find an attorney in Long Beach who represents tenants. What happened to you is not right - regardless of your dad's issues. Even if (and I am not saying this is the case) you were involved, they still cannot throw you out on five days' notice. Go hire an attorney, or contact Legal Aid. There is little-to-no hope of returning to the property, but you need to be compensated for being treated so badly.

*Due to the limitations of the LawGuru Forums, The Gibbs Law Firm, APC's (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided is general and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence. As required by 11 U.S.C. �528, we must now disclose that, "We are a debt relief agency. We help people file for bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code. Assistance we provide with respect to Debt Relief may involve bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code."

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Answered on 7/11/11, 3:21 pm


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