Jury Trials
All,
A disturbing trend here in the SF Bay Area. You file an eviction on someone, they demand a jury trial. It only costs them a $150 deposit to do so. If they convince the Court that they are low income, they get it for free.
To litigate a jury trial, your lawyer wants an initial retainer of $5000. But it might cost substantially more. You are not guaranteed to win. Unlike a judge - who has seen every tenant scam in existence hundreds of times - the case is decided by a jury, who may well think that landlords are widows-and-orphans-evicting scum.
If you litigate and win, your chances of getting the $5K ( or more! ) back from your deadbeat tenant are approximately squat. Especially since any careful landlord here will have a provision in the rental agreement that "each party pays their own legal fees & court costs". Why is that?
Tenants are being trained and assisted by an outfit called the "Eviction Defense Center" in Oakland. It's a private business, a legal office of aggressive pro-tenant lawyers. Even though they are a private business, they get money from the City of Oakland, the City of Berkeley, and HUD - to "prevent homelessness". They also get free advertising in the FAQ section of the City of Hayward website. If you don't have the "own legal fees" proviso in your rental agreement, the EDC will come in swinging for your tenant, and if they win, they will hit you, the landlord, with their legal fees, which can easily top $20K. If OTOH, you DO have that important provision, the tenant will probably come in Pro Per ( representing themselves ).
The prospect of a jury trial significantly alters the balance of power in pretrial negotiations. Tenants ask for and receive substantial concessions. By "substantial" I mean months of free rent. Four to six months is not unusual.
I just had one of these. Nonpayment of Rent. Tenant went to the EDC, demanded a jury trial. She wants to stay in my unit. She made a relatively decent offer, considering the alternative. $500 discount on the rents in arrears, I eat the $1300 eviction costs, she pays what she owes in payments along with the ongoing rent. A "stipulated agreement", which means that the judge signed it, converting it into a court order.
I might still get rid of her. The stipulated agreement is quite strict, and all she has to do is miss or be late on one payment. I make a phone call to her, another one to my lawyer, he schedules a lockout with the sheriff.
But that protection only lasts 5 months. After that, if she gets behind on the rent, I have to do the whole dance over again. If that happens, I'll have no choice but to litigate. Maybe I should start a new hobby - go to the courthouse and watch some eviction jury trials. Waste some afternoons. Get comfortable with it.