Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California
Under what legal term should we sue the landlord?
We signed the lease with the landlord, we paid him one month deposit, he cashed the deposit already. Then the landlord tolad us that he wanted to (actualy insisted)sale the house. We didn't agree to that, because we don't have enough time to look other places. We are facing the difficult situation(we need to find the place to stay within mixium two week period of time...), because of him. Then the landlord offer us a thousand dollar for the potential cost). At the end, we accept his offer, includ return of our deposit. Yesterday, we got the $25 fine nottice from our bank, because of the bad check which the landlord had given us. We are really upset.
We decide to sue our landlord, but we don't know under what legal term should we sue him for? Thank you for your time.
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Under what legal term should we sue the landlord?
Besides the bad check issue..breach of contract. But it seems that your prioity is regarding a place to live. He breached his end of the bargain so your notice is no longer binding. Please call me directly at (619) 222-3504. You need an attorney to handle this mess.
Re: Under what legal term should we sue the landlord?
Many police departments have a program to collect on bad checks. Often this is the fastest way to collect on a bad check. You may not get the statutory penalty this way. So you need to decide which is more important speed or maximum repayment for your damages. As I recall the maximum statutory penalty is about $250.00.
Re: Under what legal term should we sue the landlord?
The very first thing I would do is explain to your bank what happened. Then, I would contact this landlord immediately and demand that he cover his bad check by replacing it with cash, cashier's check or money order. Give him maybe 24 hours. Then contact the bad-check or white-collar crimes unit of your local police or sheriff department.
If this doesn't work and it becomes necessary to sue, it could be beneficial to place your case in the hands of a lawyer before the landlord can sell the house. The lawyer can then consider ways to place a lien or lis pendens on the house to prevent the landlord from making himself judgment proof or disappearing with the money.
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