Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: Landlord Disputes

You have to either pay the rent you owe or get out of the premises. If you do neither, the landlord will file an unlawful detainer action against you. If he/she is successful, the Sheriff will come and throw you out, and change the locks. Your personal belongings could also be in jeopardy.

As they said in the Empire Strikes Back, "I think its time we evacuated the planet."

Very truly yours,

Re: Landlord Disputes

Pay the rent or cure any breaches within 3 days of the notice or be subject to an unlawful detainer lawsuit and risk being evicted.

Re: Landlord Disputes

The previous two answers would pretty well sum things up, unless you have a genuine dispute over how much is due. In that case, I would pay what you feel is due, attach a letter to the payment stating the facts surrounding your dispute, and then try to open up the lines of communication and negotiate the dispute. If the negotiation fails, you will have a second chance to present your side of the dispute, this time to a judge at the unlawful detainer trial. By the way, if served with a summons and complaint in a UD action, be sure to note that the time for filing and serving an answer is VERY short.

Re: Landlord Disputes

As long as you can handle the risk of a UD action (and potential eviction upon losing) if you only pay what you believe... then the previous answer is one approach.

If,however,the risk of losing in UD and potential eviction is not apealing (as often the case), then one can pay the entire rent demanded avoiding a UD action thereby, and file an action against the landlord for the disputed amount at a later date.