So I owe two homes that I'm renting out, one tenant is paying just fine but the other tenant owes me two months of non-payment and are not paying since she's been unemployed. If she applies for unemployment, she'd be getting about $4,000 a month in California, which is more than enough for the rent payment. But she isn't cooperating and I believe is abusing the system.

I wonder, what is better to do? With California's judicial council law, you have to wait another 90 days after the governor lifts the eviction moratorium (that means July 28, 2020 plus 90 days afterwards so we are looking at October 28, 2020). That's a potential of 5 - 6 months where the tenant doesn't have to pay me a single dime and will be squatting in my house for free. Not to mention any damages to the property I will have to suffer as well. And it could get extended to 2021.

What's the chance of me getting the rent back-pay owned to me? The tenant can simply delay and move out or get evicted in November and it could end up in small claims court if I want to get any money back or a collection agency will have to go after the tenant (and the collection agency gets 40% of anything they can collect on). 

Should I gamble on this or look into how to file a class action lawsuit against the State of California and the Judicial Council?

Any other people in California having these issues and would like to get together to file a Class Action Lawsuit or offer suggestions on joining local Landlord associations who are already looking to do so? Strength in numbers is the way to do anything about this. 

Do other landlords have problem tenants that are not paying as well?

Let me know your thoughts.

You have any idea how much money it would cost you to attempt to initiate a class action?  They don’t “start” as class action suits, your attorney has to make a case for it. Let alone the chances of ending up successful. 

@David To let me just help you clarify somethings for before you move forward. 1.California’s Eviction Moratorium was to end May 31. On That day or the day before that the governor announced he is giving local jurisdictions the OK to extend the eviction moratorium through July 28.

2. Los Angeles County’s eviction moratorium ends on June 30 with a possibility of It being extended ( board of supervisors said it’s “unlikely” but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was extended.)

3. The California Judicial Council added on their own moratorium. Which I think is the worst. The only way to remove theirs is if they vote it out Or the governor lifts the state of emergency due to covid 19. Now let me explain this to you.  An Eviction moratorium is different from A state of emergency. A state of emergency can be in full affect for years if the governor wanted too. A moratorium is just a temporary ban on a specific thing. I believe if you want to move forward target the judicial council because I see no end in sight for that moratorium. The local moratoriums atleast have a date unlike the judicial council which is 90days after the state of emergency is lifted. (Which can be the summer of 2025) 

@Wayne Brooks is correct. You start with your lawsuit and then other landlords jump on the same ship. Next thing you know you have 500 landlords in California supporting you each pitching in acouple dollars then BOOM you all come out on the 8 o clock news

@David To if I’m not mistaken the Pacific Legal Foundation might have something going already. I’m not too sure. Try contacting them and see what they tell you. From what I heard they are the strongest legal firm when it comes down to property rights. Keep up updated 

Absolutely you need to sue them. I own several hundred rental units in other states, otherwise I'd join you in helping cover the costs. California needs businesses to start putting a lot of pressure on it. The good news is that most of the businesses are moving to Texas which is the biggest hurt that they can put on the state. Without businesses it loses its revenue and becomes a trash heap. Sue them. They are violating your constitutional rights and probably violating the takings clause. They are usurping your property for the benefit of the public. They must reimburse you for taking your private property and using it. Start reaching out to landlords, you can get all their contact info using reonomy which only cost about $100 per month to get direct owner contact points. Get a handful together to start, so you have some cash to initiate the class action. If we can get more landlords across the country to take action we have the possibility of 30 million housing units suing the federal and state governments! Federal Cares act alone is causing over 5 billion in damages for it's moratoriums imposed on landlords.

Thanks, Ricardo. I emailed Pacific Legal Foundation this weekend and hopefully will hear back from them next week to discuss if it's feasible to file a lawsuit or not. I'll post update once I hear back from them.

Yes, let us know. I’ll also ask around to see if any of my landlord friends have non paying tenants so they can also join the cause. Hopefully this works 

@David To any updates?? 
I also did some more research and I believe another lawsuit was filled out of Ventura California. Attorneys Name is Doug Michie I believe he is suing the governors ban on evictions and the judicial council might have approved it. It’s a bit confusing. I read it when used the search engine google. I think he might be starting a class action. 

No updates from Pacific Legal Foundation yet. They haven't emailed or called me back yet.

I just also called Doug Michie in Ventura but got an answering machine so I left voice mail asking him about this as well.

Hopefully, they will contact me next week.

@David To did you end up reading the article I was talking about? Now, I’m not sure how the lawsuit went. But, from what the article said was that he was successful. What’s your input on that? 

You are referring to this article? Well, based on what I read, it means we have to wait till July 28, 2020 in order to file an eviction so we don't have to wait an extra 90 days on the Judicial Council. Also, governor Newsom cannot extend extend it beyond July 28, 2020. So that's good news which means the most I'm out of rent would be 4 months instead of a potential 6 - 12 months of rent.

https://californiaglobe.com/section-2/lawyers-swift-action-forces-gov-newsoms-no-eviction-order-to-be-rescinded/

@David To yes sir! That’s the article I was referring too. Now I’m not sure if it went through(the lawsuit) because I believe the judicial council was planing to vote it out yesterday. But the vote was suspended and postponed. I guess it’s just a waiting game from here on out. I’m sorry if your going through this mess with a tenant. If I hear or find anything else out I’ll make sure to post it on this thread and forum. WE ARE ALMOST THERE don’t give up.  

@David To just in! 
Los Angles largest landlord organization just filed a federal lawsuit against Los Angeles today. There’s an article published this morning by Los Angeles Times. Wow! Lawsuit after lawsuit. Democrats love stripping our rights. 

I'm down in San Diego. Have a Tenant who last paid in November. Took to court using attorney and prevailed in Feb. Sherrifs lockout scheduled for Tues  Mar 17th. That weekend the governors order came down. I'm About to enter the 8th month Ive had to harbor these deadbeats. I have the perfect case for class action because i was 2 days away from a lockout. Covid19 had nothing to do with my situation. How do we get one going? I'm no lawyer, but it send that the government is declared a temporary eminent domain of my property and as such should justly compensate for that.

@Royce Kemp I think you should get in contact with the Los Angeles Apartment association. I’m sure they can give you a better clarification on how or what to do. There’s acouple of moratoriums we have to worry about. #1 California’s eviction Moratorium #2 Judicial Councils Eviction Moratorium. Those are the ones we need to target. Los Angeles eviction Moratorium is supposed to expire at the end of this Month

This is terrible and I really feel for you guys. Could you have the house rewired and plumbed by the world's slowest plumber and electrician? Maybe a new roof put on my Ralph the nighttime roofer? Anything to make living there a nuisance. 

Clint

I wonder why she won't apply for unemployment when it would allow her to pay her bills.  People like that (who take advantage of others) really tick me off.  When her lease is up, I wouldn't renew it.  Say you need to do some updates and need the place empty.  Then paint and do anything else that needs to be done.

I've been lucky and all 4 tenants have paid.  The one who is a student, I worried about as fall classes are online, but they renewed their lease for another year...big sigh of relief.  

Royce, yes you are screwed, similar to me but more so. The chances of you getting all those months of rents in back-pay would be slim, since it will most likely end in a collection agency trying to get the money but a collection agency will get 40% of whatever they can get.

What we need to do is somehow find and get a powerful, influential San Diego landlord association together to file a class action lawsuit against the State of California and the Judicial Council to get all missed rent payments so that it doesn't have to go to a collection agency where there's no guarantee of us getting anything back or only 60% best case scenario.

What pisses me is that unemployed people in California can apply for unemployment and would have been receiving $4000 / month for the past 3-4 months which is more than enough to pay for rent, food, electricity, etc. Also, they could use their credit card to pay 50% of rent, but no some tenants simply not paying a penny and abusing the system. 

Majority of our non payers failed to prove they had any income disruption and are buying new TVs bikes, you name it. Christmas on the house. I have about 10-20 with a $4,000 balance now on a $1000 month rent, more with 2 months balance... Total system abusers. Forget collections agency. Have tried in the past. On 60k of lost rent they collected exactly zero. State and feds are the entity responsible for taking your property for public use. They need to be held accountable and pay for the time they usurped your property. It even specifically states (in the fed cares act) "no eviction allowed for non payment" - which clearly proves they know the tenant will not pay you and are forcefully requiring that you shoulder the burden of paying for that tenant to live in your property.

It seems as if New York is in a better situation than California. They atleast have an end date in sight. In California you have a law that states 90days after the state of emergency is lifted. Who knows when that can be. With our luck here in California that can be in the summer of 2025. Out in Texas people are filing for eviction with no problem. Democrats 👎🏽

my advice....  look at the electoral map from 2016. If the state or county is blue, you are going to get screwed as a landlord. 

I completely agree with Keith A. I am at a loss to explain why anyone would buy investment property in any of the blue states, namely, Illinois, California, New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Those states are essentially bankrupt and they are experiencing a net annual migration out of their respective states. The government then keeps raising taxes to compensate for the shrinking tax base to fund their bloated civil servant pensions. How is this a positive environment for real estate investment? Add in the current BLM protests where property is destroyed, the police do nothing, and some municipal governments even condone the behaviour! Again, how is this positive for real estate investment? What am I missing here? 

@Dennis Cosgrave that’s exactly what I was trying to explain on another post and I got bashed on for stating that I might sell my properties due to this non sense that’s going on in blue sectors. I don’t see how any of this can be fixed without landlords taking a huge hit and letting tenants walk away freely. But then again you live and you learn. 

@David To there was a lawsuit filed against the judicial council yesterday morning for the eviction moratorium. 
So far the governor is getting sued,the judicial council just got sued and then last week LA County got sued. All over the eviction moratorium. I’m not sure if this is enough to turn over a stone. But I guess it’s all worth a shot. Hope this info helps