Tenant just hit me with a Jury Trial request for eviction. HELP!!

LakeWood , CA · Member since 2018 · 268 posts · 331 votes

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I need some feedback. I need some knowledge. I would like to know what’s next? Has anyone else dealt with issues like these before? Property is a 3plex. Non rent control area. Served a proper 60days notice to vacate. Property is located in Whittier California.

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Nicole A.Pro Member

Rental Property Investor · Baltimore County Maryland and Tampa Florida · Member since 2013 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes

Is the tenant confusing "Notice to Vacate" with "Eviction"? I've come to realize that many tenants don't understand the difference and call it an eviction when the landlord was simply asking them to vacate at the end of their lease. Your tenant may think this is an eviction and is panicking to protect his/her record.

Has their attorney contacted you or did the tenant say they were getting an attorney?
Has the relationship between you and the tenant been rocky?

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Bryan ZuetelPro Member
Attorney · Orange County, CA · Member since 2017 · 242 posts · 99 votes
8y
I'm a California real estate attorney, broker, and investor, and I am not at all surprised by this tenant's actions. If he truly has a pro bono (for free) attorney to represent him in fighting the eviction, he has no downside. In California, there is no requirement that you provide a reason for a 60 day notice to vacate (in a non-rent controlled area). Has the tenant filed an answer (document denying the allegations of your complaint)? Did he identify the affirmative defenses or reasons why he believes that he is still entitled to possession?
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Chris Purcell
Investor · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2010 · 739 posts · 372 votes
8y
@Ricardo P.
Did you reason with the guy and tell him what you were trying to do? Renovate the place and charge higher rent?
Is he still paying rent or did he stop paying. You could’ve told him you’d like to renovate and would give him as much time to move as possible as long as he still paid rent on time
Could’ve been avoided tbh. You prob scared him with your eviction talk and now no turning back
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Joel OwensBusiness Member
Moderator
Real Estate Broker · Canton, GA · Member since 2010 · 15k+ posts · 11k+ votes
8y
Who knows maybe the tenant checked around and there is nowhere to move to with the same rent and they cannot afford more.
You have to find out what the tenant's concern is and why they are having a hard time moving. It could be they are just unreasonable and will not go for any reason which the legal process just has to work itself out OR it could be a reason for which there is a solution to solve the problem.
The question then becomes do you the owner of the property want to pursue that possible solution or or do you want to use the legal system?
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Matt R.
Sherman Oaks, CA · Member since 2013 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
8y
What I have seen some do in non rent control areas is just raise the rent. So let's say after remoldel you are expecting X amount, they just raise rent to that amount before remoldel. If they decide to stay maybe no remoldel is needed yet. I have also seen in a non rent control building the PM just says, ok raise everyones rent 10%. And when a renter calls PM and says " hey I think I have to move out" ...they say " ok how about just 5%." So most the building gets the 10% and a couple squeaky wheels get 5%.
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Ned J.Pro Member
Investor · Manteca, CA · Member since 2017 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
8y
Most important part is that you follow the necessary legal steps......and if you have never done it before, that's where having an eviction lawyer pays off big time
Any screw ups will reset/restart the whole process and it will drag out....... the guy is stalling you....he has no case....but he will do anything he can to drag it out so he doesn't have to move.....
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James Wise
Real Estate Broker · Cleveland Dayton Cincinnati Toledo Columbus & Akron, OH · Member since 2013 · 30k+ posts · 20k+ votes
8y
Originally posted by @Ricardo P.:

Ladies and Gentlemen,
I need some feedback. I need some knowledge. I would like to know what’s next? Has anyone else dealt with issues like these before? Property is a 3plex. Non rent control area. Served a proper 60days notice to vacate. Property is located in Whittier California.
I imagine this is gonna suck. Good news is you can include a waiver of Jury Trial in your lease (At least in most states you can, California is pretty crazy so who knows.) We include them in all of ours.
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Spencer Gray
Syndication Expert and Investor · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2016 · 591 posts · 808 votes
8y
Have you considered raising his rent to whatever it would be after renovation? Then it's up to him to leave voluntarily or pay the higher price. You win either way.
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Susan H.Pro Member
Investor/Landlord · NWA, AR · Member since 2016 · 227 posts · 132 votes
8y
Originally posted by @Nolan M.:

Hold on, So he moved in Oct 1 and your served him a 60 day notice two months later? Dang, no wonder he is pissed, I would be too, moving is such a headache! I'm sure you have your reasons but its understandable that this guy doesn't want to play nice. Good luck!
I believe he stated the tenant moved in October 1, 2017, not 2018.
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Gagan P.
Real Estate Investor · Austin, TX · Member since 2016 · 114 posts · 49 votes
8y
Originally posted by @Susan H.:

Originally posted by @Nolan M.:
Hold on, So he moved in Oct 1 and your served him a 60 day notice two months later? Dang, no wonder he is pissed, I would be too, moving is such a headache! I'm sure you have your reasons but its understandable that this guy doesn't want to play nice. Good luck!
I believe he stated the tenant moved in October 1, 2017, not 2018.
He accidentally stated that the tenant moved in on October 1, 2017 and corrected that later to say tenant move in on October 1, 2016
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David Avetisyan
Rental Property Investor · Glendale, CA · Member since 2013 · 685 posts · 334 votes
8y
In a non-rent controlled area you have a lot of flexibility and as stated above, you have no reason to site why you are serving a notice to vacate.
The one thing that I will plead from you is, if you have retained an attorney or are seeking legal representation, it is my fiduciary duty as a member of this site to suggest you avoid Michael Brennan and his law firm by all means. I saw his ad in the AOA and that was the biggest mistake I've made.
I had retained him on a similar type of case sometime ago and I was beyond unhappy with his inexperienced staff, attorney(s) who are interning and their lack of professionalism. Michael Brennan is too busy promoting his firm to actually spend time with clients, unless you are newly seeking which in that case he has no problem up-selling his team.
In short, they botched my case so it was tossed. I was out several thousand dollars over a mistake they made and they just chalked it up as part of being a land-lord.
They paid out the little that was left in my retainer incorrectly and they are still working on fixing it. My recommendation is to shop around, but make sure you don't go with the least expensive attorney as that'll end up costing you the most money.
To your success!
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Jeff Gates
Investor · Cathedral City, CA · Member since 2014 · 481 posts · 170 votes
8y
California
Eviction for non payment of rent is the only eviction you can be assured you will finally win. All other evictions, plan on the judge giving the tenant 9 lives. (meaning drawn out time and expenses)
Note: Be careful as the new trick the lawyers use is " Harassment". They can sue the landlord for harassment and join the cases. In this situation the judge will require the harassment claim be closed before the eviction proceeding can continue. The game here is to get the landlord to settle with a sizable payment made, (which the lawyer will steal most of it)
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Minh Nguyen
Los Angeles, CA - California · Member since 2015 · 60 posts · 17 votes
8y
@Ricardo P. How did things play out? I'm going through a similar situation right now :/
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Sharon Kwon
Member since 2018 · 1 post · 0 votes
8y
@Ricardo P. also going through a similar situation now. How'd it turn out?
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Ricardo P.
OP
LakeWood , CA · Member since 2018 · 268 posts · 331 votes
8y
Sorry for not updating you guys any sooner. I’m going to share my expirience with you guys. And hopefully we all learn something from this and think of a method to put a stop to EXTORTION. So I was in the process of renovating a particular unit of mine that was occupied. I didn’t want the hassle of only working during a specific time of the day. Or worry about noise complaints ect ect. So I decided to make it easy and play it safe on my end and serve this tenant with a 60 day notice to vacate the unit/property. He was a month to month tenant in a NON RENT CONTROLLED city in WHITTIER CA. 60days went by and he was still in the unit. I filed for an unlawful detainer. I got a response from his attorney for my lawsuit. And his attorney was requesting a jury trial. I was shocked why a jury trial? Long story short I received my trail date. We settled out of the court room. He wanted $$ from me or said he would take me through a jury trail. (Not in those words but you gets the picture) EXTORSION at its finest. I simply responded to him and his attorney and said to them that I was not Going to pay them anything. As a matter of fact he owed me a months rent. We settled to drop everything. If he left that day. I lost a months rent. Lawyer fees. Time and I also lost alot of respect towards humans.
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Ricardo P.
OP
LakeWood , CA · Member since 2018 · 268 posts · 331 votes
8y
I simply don’t see nor understand the way tenants think. We as landlords work hard to buy and maintain these investment properties. If I WAS a tenant and a landlord asked me to leave. I wouldn’t think twice. Y??
#1 I don’t own the unit/apartment so why fight to stay there?
#2 there’s so many apartments in Socal why stress over that 1??
#3 Why stay in a place where I’m not wanted?
It’s like your spouse asking for a divorce and and you take them to court and tell the judge that your not wanted anymore...
Booo hooooo.... pack your sh*t and keep going..... that’s just my personal opinion on this. I wasted time and money.
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Brendon Woirhaye
Rental Property Investor · Whittier, CA · Member since 2014 · 325 posts · 268 votes
8y
@Ricardo P. I am glad to hear that you settled and they moved out (assuming they actually did).
The reason they fight is there are NOT so many apartments available, likely not at the price they are paying. Rents have gone up so much, and vacancy rates are so low that there isn't enough supply for the demand. He isn't happy at the prospect of needing to pack his stuff, but when he looks around and realizes he may have to pay $100+ more per month for an equivalent place, he doesn't see good options. He's heard from a friend or a "stop eviction" bandit sign that landlords are afraid of jury trials and threatens you with that.
Live and learn. Its an expensive mistake, but it could have been a lot more.
Good luck with your renovation!
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Nicole A.Pro Member
Rental Property Investor · Baltimore County Maryland and Tampa Florida · Member since 2013 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
8y
There is no understanding some people's mentality. The key is to just not take it personal and move on. People with that mindset typically don't go very far in life.
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