Ongoing eviction from hell in California

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Ongoing eviction from hell in California

Adriana Arnold
Member since 2021 · 30 posts · 43 votes

Hello All, 

I am brand new to BiggerPockets and find it to be a great place comprised of helpful advice and expertise. I am a landlord of a single family home in California that has run my property as a charity rather than a business and I am paying for it now. I rented my single family home to a couple on a Month to Month rental agreement  that said that they had three kids in college and none of them were on the lease. They were overall late on rent, the rent is 40% below the market value, they would be  complaining about issues but never being available for the contractors to come and fix those issues.....

Covid comes and they stop paying and would pay 20% of the rent every three to four months. This January, we get a message from them that the roof is leaky and  after having given a 24h notice we arrange for a professional roofer to inspect the roof two days later.My husband shows up at the house with the roofer and one of the sons comes out and tells my husband that he can't come in but only the roofer. So my mother-in-law who was also there said that she is about to call the sheriff and the son lets them in. 

During this visit, we discover that in addition to original tenants, there are 6 extra people living there.  It's a 3 bedroom house. The two sons, sons' girlfriends, one year old child and an elderly woman, mother of the female tenant. The kitchen has a bed in it, and the rooms have blankets over furniture and no light. I immediately told my husband that I will contact a lawyer to start the eviction procedure for unauthorized occupants.The tenants' lawyer responds, and in his response fills out every box in the denials section, from habitability issues to retaliation passing  rent control, etc. and of course ask for a jury trial. 

Our court date was today, and we were informed three days ago that a son of the tenants is making a tutorial for marijuana farm cultivation in our backyard. We receive 25 short videos of him going step by step from taking marijuana plants from the kitchen to using welding generator to start building the farm structure in the backyard. The city representative went to the house but they didn't open the door so he left a notice of violation on the door and informed us about it. We wanted the city to dismantle the structure as all this was on social media in public view possibly making our home a target of marijuana related home invasion, or any other crime. Today, the city officer went their with the sheriff and all the marijuana was removed and the tenants were very friendly and compliant. Their criminal backgrounds were clean. Of course, they had two days to remove all the incriminating evidence. 

Today we show up in court, and our lawyer tells us that considering the backlog in courts, it may take up to 6 months to actually get the jury trial and that the tenants are holding us hostages so we can keep losing money, we should make them a settlement offer. As we need the house so we can move in as we live currently in one room within my husband's father's house where I teach my classes online while my kids are on Zoom at the same time, we said that we are willing to forgive $25 000 rental debt and give them two extra months to leave. Their lawyer said that they may consider our offer if we give them an extra year of rent free stay at the house!!!! So pretty much two and a half year of free rent to four generations of a family that has no right per lease to be there.  

Their lawyer refuses the offer arguing that since they were able to deposit $500 in money order onto my account we have waived our eviction rights..of course, I had returned their money orders with a letter stating that we have not waived our rights to evict and I closed my bank account.  Then the lawyer says that growing marijuana is not a big deal, and that being threatened by one of the sons is not a big deal either, the son told us that he knew where we lived and made the sign of cutting one's throat while looking at my husband.  

Our lawyer said that in 30 years of her career, she hasn't seen anything like this and that marijuana farm tutorial on its own deserves to earn them an automatic eviction, but since they asked for a jury trial the judge has to approve it.  

I am wondering if any of you had any similar experience and what advice would you have on how to deal with this situation? 

Thank you! 

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Most Popular Reply

Jeff Willis
CA & NV · Member since 2019 · 215 posts · 378 votes
5y

I have been there and done that. I had a similar situation at an SFR I owned in Redding, CA. There are a few things that you need to assume to be fact: (FYI My wife is a bankruptcy attorney and also deals in real estate)

  • It will take a year to get them out;
  • They are not paying for the attorney. There are groups of attorneys that provide free services to tenants. They are radical and will do everything to cost you money in attorney fees in hopes of settling and paying their fees;
  • When they leave, your house will be destroyed entirely and unlivable;
  • You will never collect a penny from them for back rent or damages, so offering to forgive rent is meaningless. Once out, they will file bankruptcy, and your claim goes away. You can never collect anything;
  • Landlords have no rights in California;
  • Expect to spend a substantial amount to get them out finally;
  • Your attorney is limited in what they can do, but they do have good advice on what you can do

What to do? Cash talks, rent forgiveness, does not because they will never pay the back rent, so basically, you forgive nothing. I had an attorney, and they agreed to my actions but had no knowledge of it (plausible deniability). The attorney can't do it because if the tenant is represented, they must go through their attorney. Those rules do not bind me; I can contact the tenant directly.

What I did, I got $10,000 in $100 bills. I met with the tenant, showed them the pile of money, and said, "this is yours if you move in 10 days and sign these forms. The forms were a 1542 waiver and dismissal of their countersuit, substitution of attorney (substituting their attorney for Pro-Per). I told them that once they are out, I will hand them the cash. I mentioned that if their attorney gets involved, the deal is off. It worked. Cash talks, and cash is king. In your case, it may be more than 10K that is required. I filed the dismissal and substitution with the court. Their attorney was pissed and threatened me, but nothing he could do; he no longer represented them. I even offered to provide U-HAUL trucks and drivers.

What they didn't know is that I transferred all utilities into my name. As the property owner, I can do that. I did have to pay their delinquent accounts, but now I have control of the utilities.

I spent about 20K total in getting them out. Make your sure liability and fire insurance is current.

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  • Joseph McCrillis
    Member since 2019 · 41 posts · 15 votes
    5y

    Yeah, your final point is so true. I think there's a good blend of being compassionate with very clear boundaries, but it's not natural to many people. Don't let this kill your compassion...maybe just readjust how far you take it. Once again all the best of luck with this disaster. 

    I am in LA and bought out of state mostly because of cost, but the LA tenant protections are beyond reasonable. I'm glad I did.  

    The properties I do have here I Airbnb as it allows me to keep people in for shorter stays maxing out at 28 days. Also you make more than the average rent!  

    2Reply
  • Jerrid M. Richards
    Real Estate Broker · Las Vegas, NV · Member since 2018 · 5 posts · 10 votes
    5y
    Originally posted by @Adriana Arnold:

    @Jerrid M. Richards wow! That is crazy! On which law principle is the judge ruling in his favor? Is it only due to signed Covid hardship statement ? 

    The ruling had nothing to do with the CDC declaration because Nevada's eviction Moratorium covers anyone who claims they lost their job. I think a lot of it had to do with how unprepared my attorney was, I could have been much more effective and I'm just a real estate broker. I'm going to try again with a guy who seems to be more aggressive, at this point paying him $1200ish is better than another month of lost rent. 

    1Reply
  • Adriana Arnold
    OP
    Member since 2021 · 30 posts · 43 votes
    5y

    @Jerrid M. Richards, I completely understand. I paid 7k so far in lawyers' fees and so far, they have not prepared a single authentic document outside of filling out the notice of eviction and court paperwork. Knowing all that, I prepared 15 different files of various material evidence and correspondence so when we showed in court last week, I passed all of that to the lawyer who represented us that day. She returned all the documents to me and this week, I will probably have another lawyer from the same company and I will present the same documents to him/her as well. 

    In each of my files, I have also included the corresponding Civil Codes Articles or any other laws that regulate the issue in question with the idea that whatever issue the defense lawyer may attempt to bring up, I will have some type of material evidence to counter it. 

    I would definitely go with another lawyer and stay on them. My lawyer justified his lack of demand for documentation by the fact that our lease is clear on who can live in the house and that written authorization is needed for any additional occupants meaning that stipulation alone would be sufficient to get an eviction, but I disagree with him thus all the work I did collecting evidence. 

    0Reply
  • Adriana Arnold
    OP
    Member since 2021 · 30 posts · 43 votes
    5y
    Originally posted by @Joseph McCrillis:

    Yeah, your final point is so true. I think there's a good blend of being compassionate with very clear boundaries, but it's not natural to many people. Don't let this kill your compassion...maybe just readjust how far you take it. Once again all the best of luck with this disaster. 

    I am in LA and bought out of state mostly because of cost, but the LA tenant protections are beyond reasonable. I'm glad I did.  

    The properties I do have here I Airbnb as it allows me to keep people in for shorter stays maxing out at 28 days. Also you make more than the average rent!  

     Thank you for your support ! The problems I am facing seem to be due to the nature of character of the tenants. The principle of extortion (settlement) wants that the demanding party be satisfied in their demands no matter how unlawful and unrealistic they are. So if my tenants who seriously broke the lease (unauthorized occupants, death threats, marijuana farm growth.etc.) demand that I forgive 26 000$ of rental debt, give them an extra year of free rent and some money, the judge will force us to make an offer that closely matches those demands independently from the law and rights. 

    I refuse to give into extortion and it is going to be up to the jury to decide whether my tenants demands are legitimate. 

    0Reply
  • David Avery
    Flipper/Rehabber · Phoenix Arizona · Member since 2020 · 1k+ posts · 686 votes
    5y

    In my life of being a landlord since age 18  ( almost 45 years).

    Even if you win, you still need to collect the monies.   It is another "can of worms" that will

    remind you of the initial problems.

    If you war someone with" Black Gloves"

    You better put on more "Black Gloves " then them.

    The energy, monies, night less hours of sleep, etc.

    Is it worth it. ?

    Just thinking of paying your attorney makes me very sad!!

    Working with Scum Tenants is the worst nightmare of life!!

    I have decided in my life that "those certain" type of people.

    You don't win, you just make them go away as soon as possible.

    I have had to pay renters to leave several times.

    But I got my unit back, saved several deals, and learned that life is full 

    of these scum tenants!

    I am not a landlord for these reasons and hopefully you can find some

    peace when it is all over!

    I could tell you ways to get them out, but BP will not tolerate it.

    I had a friend turn the water off several times,   The board of heath then will then give tenant a 48 notice to vacant then sheriff will in 10-15  minuets!

    1Reply
  • Adriana Arnold
    OP
    Member since 2021 · 30 posts · 43 votes
    5y

    @David Avery , thank you for your support! I am exclusively focused on retaking possession of our property and the safety of our family considering the threats and marijuana presence on the property.

    I think that we have been very reasonably with our offer and given that the tenants want to remain in the house for free and for a long period of time, we have no choice but wait for the legal process to go through as their demand for an extra year of free rent is unacceptable. 

    0Reply
  • April Adams
    Rental Property Investor · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2009 · 52 posts · 9 votes
    5y
    Originally posted by @Adriana Arnold:

    @David P., well I overlooked some things..... only the parents filled out the application and I believed that they would be the only ones living in the house. They met the income requirement and I fell for their sad story to explain fluctuations in their credit scores. I would believe what past landlords say only if there is a possibility to verify their rental payment history. I now see how strict screening process makes a huge difference even though individual character/culture/beliefs/values and norms determine how people behave. An honest person won't destroy third party's property, go months without paying rent and moving in their entire immediate family and act like they didn't do anything wrong. 

    This is an expensive lesson to learn. Been there. Done that. Good luck. 

    0Reply
  • Eric James
    Investor · Malakoff, TX · Member since 2017 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    5y
    Originally posted by @Adriana Arnold:

    So when an unauthorized occupant threatens to slice the throat of the landlord it is not a big deal, but imagine what would have happened if it was the other way around, and if a landlord threatened a tenant in a similar way? 

    Welcome to the world of identity politics. That's where the law is different, depending on who you are. You have my sympathy, but you chose to live in CA.

    1Reply
  • David Shaw
    Member since 2018 · 26 posts · 12 votes
    5y
    Originally posted by @Jeff Willis:

    I have been there and done that. I had a similar situation at an SFR I owned in Redding, CA. There are a few things that you need to assume to be fact: (FYI My wife is a bankruptcy attorney and also deals in real estate)

    • It will take a year to get them out;
    • They are not paying for the attorney. There are groups of attorneys that provide free services to tenants. They are radical and will do everything to cost you money in attorney fees in hopes of settling and paying their fees;
    • When they leave, your house will be destroyed entirely and unlivable;
    • You will never collect a penny from them for back rent or damages, so offering to forgive rent is meaningless. Once out, they will file bankruptcy, and your claim goes away. You can never collect anything;
    • Landlords have no rights in California;
    • Expect to spend a substantial amount to get them out finally;
    • Your attorney is limited in what they can do, but they do have good advice on what you can do

    What to do? Cash talks, rent forgiveness, does not because they will never pay the back rent, so basically, you forgive nothing. I had an attorney, and they agreed to my actions but had no knowledge of it (plausible deniability). The attorney can't do it because if the tenant is represented, they must go through their attorney. Those rules do not bind me; I can contact the tenant directly.

    What I did, I got $10,000 in $100 bills. I met with the tenant, showed them the pile of money, and said, "this is yours if you move in 10 days and sign these forms. The forms were a 1542 waiver and dismissal of their countersuit, substitution of attorney (substituting their attorney for Pro-Per). I told them that once they are out, I will hand them the cash. I mentioned that if their attorney gets involved, the deal is off. It worked. Cash talks, and cash is king. In your case, it may be more than 10K that is required. I filed the dismissal and substitution with the court. Their attorney was pissed and threatened me, but nothing he could do; he no longer represented them. I even offered to provide U-HAUL trucks and drivers.

    What they didn't know is that I transferred all utilities into my name. As the property owner, I can do that. I did have to pay their delinquent accounts, but now I have control of the utilities.

    I spent about 20K total in getting them out. Make your sure liability and fire insurance is current.

    Woww, thank you for confirming why I need to sell everything in CA and invest in more landlord friendly states, we all know what color states those are. I have a similar issue in LA city RSO, unauthorized subtenants have taken over a unit and have been there without paying rent for over a year, basically ever since my real tenant left me with this mess. Covid has put everything on delay, and they have not one but TWO lawyers defending them for free. They have been doing everything to lag the process and just buying time. These are dead beats who don't seem to care if I get a judgement against them or anything. The super liberal judge has been unbelievable with the process and everyone is pushing me to pay them large money to just leave, which goes against every fiber of my being and is plain extortion. How can our state and city do this us??? 

    My dear fellow landlord, you are not alone in this battle, many of us are suffering with these garbage tenants and even worse the scum "free" lawyers causing us hell. We landlords need to take a stance together and not settle with these scum. If we all agree to this then it might finally put a stop to the next set of horrible tenants thinking they can extort money from us. 

    0Reply
  • Ariel Jeidel
    Rental Property Investor · NY · Member since 2015 · 49 posts · 20 votes
    5y

    https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/1...

    This author leaves her email address asking for tenants facing eviction to share  their story for upcoming article....

    0Reply
  • Bjorn AhlbladPro Member
    Investor · Shelton, WA · Member since 2017 · 6k+ posts · 6k+ votes
    5y

    Way scarier than a recession ever could be!

    0Reply
  • Alfred Amponsah
    New to Real Estate · DALLAS TX · Member since 2021 · 24 posts · 10 votes
    5y

    I feel your pain too. I will also consider the investor above with the California settlement waiver form. It will not be a bad idea to get them Uhaul and Cash settlement for immediate evacuating.

    Also, I ill like to know any updates and how it all ended.

    Kind Regards.

    0Reply
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