Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: tenant dispute

1. Call a lawyer. Most judges would not evict you for not paying rent on a dwelling unit with rats -- it is legally uninhabitable.

2. Call your local health department.

3. Adopt a kitten.

Re: tenant dispute

Sure, you can sue, and you'd probably win. Lawsuits are, however, expensive and slow. Filing suit is sometimes done tactically, not to get a judgment, but to pressure the defendant into negotiating a resolution to the dispute. Still, I don't think filing suit is your best strategy.

I'd suggest starting out by locating and reading Civil Code sections 1941 and 1941.1, especially 1941.1(f). Maybe also buy one of those paperback self-help law books about tenant's rights (or, from the other perspective, a book about how to be a landlord). They will cover the right of a tenant to withhold rent or claim breach of the lease when CC 1941 and 1941.1 are violated by the landlord.

You need to think ahead and decide whether you want the problem fixed, whether you want to win a lawsuit, or whether you want to get out of the lease and move somewhere else. All of these outcomes are possible, but they all call for a different approach. If you want the problem fixed, study the law, then confront the landlord and negotiate a repair job and a time frame. Use your knowledge of the law as a bargaining strength. But bargain from the position of wanting to stay, not from wanting to kick butt.

Re: tenant dispute

Yes. It is a breach of the covenant of habitability under the now famous case of Green v. Superior Court. Also, the Civil Code allows you after giving notice and an opportunity to cure the problem to withhold up to one month's rent, as long as you use the rental amount to fix the problem, i.e. hire and exterminator, clean the attic out, and seal up any points of entry for the vermine. Under the Civil Code the problem is referred to as residential premises that are untenantable. If you exercise your rights under the law, and he tries to evict you in retalion, you can defend the case on the doctrine of retaliatory eviction, which is a defense, so long as you are paying the rent.

Good luck.