Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California
Tenant scam
A man and a woman, pretended to be a married couple, were brought to me by a realtor. She said the lady was waiting a new baby, needed to rent the house as soon as posible. I let them moved to our house without checking their background. Since they moved in, our house was ruined by the tenants, a man, a woman, 3 teenages, a big dog and a cat. Window sreens were broken, carpet was stained heavily and burn by cigarette, wall damaged everywhere, backyard was dug many holes by the dog... Last year, they broke tiles on the roof, and bathtub wall to create mold on drywall. Last March we hired a lawyer to evict them. Now they sue me for 1/2 million dollar.
Please tell me: is this a crime? how can we get help beside to get a lawyer? Do the ''landlord protection'' and ''umbralla'' insurance policies pay for the law suite?
4 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Tenant scam
You sound very emotional. You will have to hire an attorney. You can sue them for the malicious prosecution later, but they likely have no assets. If their case is flimsy they will fold quickly before it gets too expensive.
Re: Tenant scam
If the lawsuit has a negligence cause of action, then your insurance company may defend it. If not, you will have to answer. Call me directly at (619) 222-3504.
Re: Tenant scam
your realitor may have been negligent so i would consult an attorney not just only about defening the law suit or tendering it to you insurance carrier immediatly for defense but don't ignor the dates for appearance, that means by filing a legal document but talk, yes talk immediatly to a lawyer and ask him/her about a suit against the realitor for negligence on their part -- good luck
Re: Tenant scam
There are laws in California that protect owners from malicious property damage caused by others, but I often find that many law enforce agencies would call this a "civil matter" and decline to take a report. I note that you live in Poway, which uses the SD Sheriff instead of having a policy force and I a little more faith in SD Sheriff to actually take a crime report as compated to other San Diego area law enforcement agencies.
The reality is though that these people probably have very little assets from which you could collect any monetary damages.
I would be curious to know if the tenants are still in the property or if you have regained possession. It may be that they only filed this lawsuit for defensive purposes.
Beyond retaining a lawyer and defending against the lawsuit and/or suing for damages, there really isn't much else that you can do at this point. If you did obtain an judgment in the eviction matter, make sure you record an Abstract of Judgment at the County Recorder's Office because this will cause the judgment to show on their credit rating. San Diego County doesn't have any government agencies that specifically handle this type of matter other than the legal system.
Your insurance carriers MIGHT provide coverage for the claims in the tenants' lawsuit against you, but an insurance policy is a contract with lots of coverages and exclusions. You should have your attonrey review the policy and you should also put your carriers on notice of the lawsuit right away. If coverage is provided, they might be required to hire a lawyer for you under the policy to defend you.
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