Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California
Peaceful Enjoyment of Your Property
Myself & several other neighbors have had to deal with a neighbors son (17 yrs old)for the last few years, who has stolen, vandalized & beat up other kids in the neighborhood. When is father is at work their home is hangout for all of the drug addicts. The police have taken the boy to juvinille hall on several occassions, & the boy only laughs at the situation. The local police had told us about another alternative going with a civil lawsuit ''Peaceful Enjoyment of Your Property''. Can you provide me with that info under California law. There are several neighbors that have been impacted by this & we want to know what we can do. Our thought is we punish the father with punitive measures, maybe he might wake up & take a active roll with his son, versus keeping a deaf ear to us & the police. Thank you.
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Peaceful Enjoyment of Your Property
You can start be reading California Civil Code Section 3479. In a lawsuit for Abatement of Nuisance, you can sue for money damages and approproiate court orders prohibitting the specific activities that constitute a nuisance. Violating a court order is punishable by contempt court, which carries a maximum fine of $1000 and/or 5 days in jail.
As an alternative, some neighborhoods have used a program called Safe Streets now. You get a group of neighbors to document the offensive activities by taking detailed notes, pictures, etc. If you present the evidence to the dad and nothing happens, each neighbor files a $7500 small claims lawsuit against the dad or property owners for not abating the nuisance.
Re: Peaceful Enjoyment of Your Property
From the facts given thus far, you and/or the other neighbors would have proper legal standing for private nuisance, which is actionable to up to $7500 each as well as injunctive relief in small claims court. If you would like prompt, affordable assistance in this unfortunate matter, contact us directly for a free phone consultation.
Re: Peaceful Enjoyment of Your Property
This is a somewhat complex area of the law, and one that is currently in turmoil, with increasing court and legislative attention being given to issues such as yours.
As a starting point, I suggest you look up and review the following:
(1) A new law, Health & Safety Code section 11571.1, effective 1/1/2006, that seems to give landlords new means (and maybe a higher duty) to evict tenants where drug activity takes place in their units;
(2) The case of Lew vs. Superior Court (1993) 20 Cal.App.4th 866, which seems to be the leading case on concerted tenant small-claims action to remove a drug-dealing tenant using small claims private-nuisance suits.
(3) Housing Authority of the City and County of San Francisco vs. Superior Court (Aguila) (1996), a leading case on additional factors where public or subsidized housing is involved.
The cases and statute should be accessible on line; if not, a public law library should be able to help you find them.
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