We Want to Sue Our Landlord. Do We Have a Case?
This going to be a lengthy post, so bear with me and appreciate the time for reading this.
Background: My mother-in-law is having a difficult time with her landlord. She lives in a house in a lot of three homes in Los Angeles. When she first moved in 15 years ago, she paid $1,200 for rent. However, within the last couple of years her and her landlord have not seen eye to eye. There have been several mishaps from her landlord. At the beginning, the tenants consisted of herself, her son, two daughters and her husband. Since then, she had two other children, who are now 8 and 4. Three years ago, her husband moved out and I moved in.
A) Rent Increases for Additional Tenants
“The Rent Stabilization Ordinance (RSO) allows a 10% rent increase for additional tenants. Under the ordinance, the landlord must notify the tenant/s of the rent increase within 60 days of obtaining actual or constructive knowledge of the additional tenant’s occupancy. If the landlord fails to notify the tenant of a rent increase for the additional tenant within those 60 days, then the landlord cannot subsequently increase the rent for that additional tenant per Ordinance 181744.”
However, a year after I had been living there, the landlord decided to increase the rent because according to her, three new tenants were living there: the two kids and myself. As a result, the rent went from $1,200 to $1,485. She had full knowledge that all three of us resided within the home for more than a year. In other words, she cannot legally have my mother-in law pay for the extra $285 correct?
B) Written Notices
“A landlord’s notice of rent increase must be in writing. The landlord can deliver a copy of the notice to you personally.” Civil Code Section 827(b)(1)(A).
The landlord has not been writing any of the rent increases in writing. Just recently, she provided my mother-in-law with a rent increase in writing. Only recently when we brought up this concern with her (a week ago).
C) Entering the Home
“The landlord or the landlord’s agent must give the tenant reasonable advance notice in writing before entering the unit, and can enter only during normal business hours (generally, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays). The notice must state the date, approximate time and purpose of entry” Civil Code Section 1954(b),(d)(1).
The landlord has been sending his contractor to work at the house—3 weeks ago, he was fixing the shower because it was growing mold underneath the shower tiles. He would come very early, 7am, and would leave around 7pm, disrupting neighbors.
D) Responsibility for Repairs
“Under the “implied warranty of habitability,” the landlord is legally responsible for repairing conditions that seriously affect the rental unit’s habitability. Green v. Superior Court (1974) 10 Cal.3d 616 [111 Cal.Rptr. 704]; Hinson v. Delis (1972) 26 Cal.App.3d 62 [102 Cal.Rptr. 661]. That is, the landlord must repair substantial defects in the rental unit and substantial failures to comply with state and local building and health codes. Green v. Superior Court (1974) 10 Cal.3d 616, 637-638 [111 Cal.Rptr. 704, 718-719]. Generally, the landlord also must do maintenance work which is necessary to keep the rental unit livable. Green v. Superior Court (1974) 10 Cal.3d 616 [111 Cal.Rptr. 704].
My mother-in-law had to argue with the landlord and constantly tell her to fix the shower—which was growing mold within the walls, thus pushing out the tiles. It took her months to get the contractor to do the work on the house—which, he left unfinished. The side door of the house was replaced by the landlord with a “inside door”, thus causing the door to mess up due to the rain—it is not the right door. It has been a year of my mother-in-law asking the landlord to fix it and she has not.
F) Temporary Relocation
“Under Los Angeles’ rent control, the landlord CAN require the tenant to move temporarily, but only if the landlord finds and pays in advance for the hotel or other temporary accommodations, food, and incidental expenses, and the tenants have a defined return time. If temporary relocation is for a period of less than 30 days, a tenant household may be housed in a motel or hotel provided that enough rooms are rented to accommodate the size of the household. Tenants may also be temporarily housed in habitable replacement housing in another building or another unit at the property that is not affected by Primary Renovation Work.” [LAMC 152]
When the contractor was fixing the shower, no one would be able to shower and after much back and forth with the landlord, she finally decided to accommodate the family’s need for a shower and booked a hotel. However, there are 7 people residing in the home; for the first 2 days, she rented out 2 rooms with 2 beds each. However, the contractor said that the work would have to stretch out another day. The landlord lady did not want to pay anymore for the relocation and only rented out one room with one bed….for 7 people on the last day.
G) Guests Staying in Unit
Section 151.06 G of the RSO defines an additional tenant as: Any tenant joining the occupants of the rental unit which results in an increase in the number of tenants existing at the inception of the tenancy. A guest is not considered an additional tenant until they have lived in the unit for 30 or more consecutive days
My mother-in-law began dating a nice gentleman a few months ago, and like any couple, he stays over a couple nights a month and visits occasionally to spend time with the family. However, the landlord wants to increase the rent because she believes he is a new tenant—he does not live there, he has his own place. My mother-in-law made it clear that he does not live there, which the landlord lady replied that, even as a guest, he had exceeded his visitation limit. Can she even do this? It is not on the contract. Lastly, there are few important things to mention. (1) All the work the landlord has done on the house, has been done by an unlicensed contractor. (2) The only person she appears to constantly be doing this too, is my mother-in law.
Recently, when my mother-in-law brought all these issues to the landlord’s attention and stated that she only wanted to talk to her about the house issues (the landlord says she is not the owner of the house, that is some other lady, who is not even on the contact is), she retaliated and provided us with another rent increase. This time from $1,485 to $1,634 with a few conditions added. We checked in with the neighbors and their contract appears to indicate that they pay $1,300 for their home—which has 3 bedrooms and a washer and dryer. Our home only has 2 bedrooms and no washer or dryer. What can we do? Can we sue her? It feels like what she is doing is harassment.