Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

Termination of Tenancy

I received a T.o.T. letter from my landlord's property managers. When I asked for an explanation, I was told that we complain too much about our neighbors. We share a single plot of land with two houses on it. We never once complained in 16 years until the property managers moved in a young couple who broke nealry every rule the PM's had. We called about these incidents, but little to nothing was ever done. My wife started to have panic attacks due to the stress of being forced to live near these people. Finally, they were asked to leave (after about 9 months of Hell). New neighbors moved in soon after, and began complaining about us, though we were never informed as to what they had complaints about (the PM's never told us). They threatened to evict us if we complained again. After about 6 months of relative peace and zero complaints, these neighbors decided to move out. We just recently had new people move in. The first weekend in the house, they had a loud party and we had to call the cops to keep the noise down (we couldn't hear our own TV with all the doors and windows shut). I called the PM early today hoping to resolve a simple issue and received a T.o.T. letter in the afternoon. Is there anything I can do, beside move out


Asked on 4/06/09, 8:31 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys

Robert F. Cohen Law Office of Robert F. Cohen

Re: Termination of Tenancy

You might contact the landlord directly, and provide a succinct chronology, since the property manager doesn't care about these issues.

Read more
Answered on 4/07/09, 9:07 am
David Gibbs The Gibbs Law Firm, APC

Re: Termination of Tenancy

It sounds as if you are a month-to-month tenant. As such, the landlord can give you a sixty day notice without any reason whatsoever. That's the point of a month-to-month tenancy - you rent the place one month at a time, and at any time, either of you can cancel the rental on very short notice. The fact that he has a reason means very little - whether it is valid or not - again, he does not have to have any reason to terminate your tenancy. You could argue that you are being retaliatorily evicted because of your complaints, but that's not an easy case to prove, AND you have to let the landlord file an eviction against you which will be on your credit report for 10 years (even if you win). I'd suggest that its time to move along.

*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.

Read more
Answered on 4/07/09, 11:50 am


Related Questions & Answers

More Landlord & Tenants questions and answers in California