Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

Re: Tenant Improvements

Unfortunately, there always is a fair chance no matter how favorable the facts are for you that you still lose in court. That is why the right of appeal exists. Judges sometimes do not pay attention to what is said or try to impose there view of "justice". Here, a judge might say that what she did improved the unit so you should not profit by her work without having to pay for it.

Is she a good tenant otherwise? How much rent would you lose if she moves out and you have to re-rent the unit? Being a landlord is a pain in the neck [I have a tenant on rent strike who has not paid for over a year and the Rent Control Board in Oakland ignored all my great legal arguments and the contradictions in her testimony, and even made mistakes in arithmatic in her favor, but refused to change the hearing officer's opinion a single bit]. You must look to see what is best for you from an economic situation. How much is your time worth in fighting the case? You can appeal a Small Claims judgment against you, but I have found the decisions on appeal often to be irrational.

If you have to go to trial, or to try to convince her not to sue you, point out that her change does not help you because it does not add anything to the attractiveness of the unit, she has no contract, she has no evidence that you agreed to pay for it, if you had why did she not have the bills send directly to you, why did you not supervise the work or select the workmen, why did you not do it at a cheaper price [try to get some bids at a lower price to show she failed to keep the costs down] [does she have along term lease or month to month -- former would imply she might do something to make the unit more liveable for herself], she has no witnesses, no one else has had you change a wall or pay for such a big change, you did not go to the planning department or whom ever had to give approval, etc. If, of course, you did any of those things, you case becomes weaker. You might hire an attorney to write a letter to her to show that you are serious about not paying, but unless he can afford to charge low rates because he is semi retired as I am, you will be paying at least $200 per hour for 1-2 hours of work. In the long run, settling is almost always cheaper.

Re: Tenant Improvements

It is essential that if something ever occurs similarly in the future, you reduce the discussion and agreement to writing, and (obviously) keep a copy. Oral (or spoken) evidence is as binding as written evidence, but, of course, much harder to prove. WILL she win? I don't know. CAN she win? Absolutely. Depends on who the judge believes, and judge can always compromise and split costs down the middle. Good luck.