Landlord 91335

I had a room in my home that I rented under a 6 month lease to a 30 year old man with his mother as a co-signor. He paid 700.00 in rent each month plus an equal share of the utilities and had a 600.00 deposit. The tenant paid rent on July 1st, 2009 and at 3am on July 3rd, 2009, he flipped out on alcohol breaking dishes and kicking the walls in his rented room. The police were called and beat on his door but he played possum and did not respond...so they left.

Today, I confronted his mother on the phone and him in person and told them both that he needed to move out immediately as we were afraid of him. They resisted it initially but after several minutes of reasoning they both agreed and he packed up his belongings and left. Everything was fine until he had everything packed into his mother's car. Then he started swearing at me and my wife and threatening us physically. It ended with him refusing to return the keys because he wanted his rent and deposit refunded.

I calmly pointed out that his violating the terms of the lease and voluntarily leaving, although at my verbal request, occured as a result of his own behavior and that I would not suffer the loss of rent as a result of his deliberate and wrongful behavior. I pointed out that we still have a lease in place and I am entitled to collect rent until I find another tenant. As he was not evicted, but left of his own accord...I feel I have no obligation to refund his rent or account for his deposit until I:

I find a tenant to take his place.

Make the necessary repairs to the room and have a invoice for him for the damages

Invoice him for the outstanding utilities.

He left amid a storm of cursing and threats...but they did eventually leave.

In an effort to mitigate my damages, I have run another ad online and solicited ten people posting in search of a rental room on Craigslist which is where I find tenants...and how I found him. The room is empty and he still posseses the keys. I will change the locks tomorrow and the costs for that will also be part of his final statement.

I did not force him to drink, do damage and act in a threatening and scary manner...so I feel that I should not suffer the 700.00 rental loss. He left without any legal notices so he did so voluntarily after being told that I would not be refunding any rent until I had a new tenant in place...and then only if it happened prior to the end of July...in the correct, pro-rated amount.

My handyman has given an estimate of 400.00 to repair and paint the room and the private bathroom and to repair a door frame he broke while drunk. The locks will cost an additional 100.00 (45.00 for the hardware and 55.00 for labor). His share of the utilities are usually 110.00/month...so I am already at 610.00 on a deposit of 600.00.

I have told him to be patient and that as soon as I rent the room...he will get a pro-rated portion of the rent back provided I can get another tenant before the 1st of August.

I also advised him that should the room not rent out, he and his mother would be responsible for the August rent as it is the final month left on the 6 month lease.

I intend to detail all of this in a statement and to provide him with the receipts and/or a handyman invoice within 14 days as required under California law if he will provide me with an address to send the statement to. He is currently refusing to give me a new address and now calls continuously threatening legal action.

While I am aware that anyone can sue for any reason...I want to know if I am doing anything improper? Please advise

My California has a month to month rental room (at 800/mo with an 800/security Deposit), He was allowed to move in with a written month-to-month agreement stating he would pay 1st month's Rent (800) and 1/2 the required security Deposit (400) under the conditions that he would split the deposit into 2 equal payments. When the 2nd month came around he said he did not have the full rent (800) nor the remaining 400 of the deposit and paid only 400 of the rent stating he would use the 400 he had on deposit and would move out at the end of the month. He was supposed to move out but was turned down on the place he was moving to. Since then he has been nothing but trouble but has paid full rent on time for 3-4 months while "trying to find a place". He uses racial slurs with the other tenants, leaves the kitchen a mess and creates problems all the time. He has never paid back the 800 owed for deposit. Now he is smoking in the room which is forbidden in his rental agreement and has no deposit to secure the new paint needed when he moves out. I just received his July rent in cash (no receipt issued). I once again asked that he pay the deposit (800.00) or move out.

I want to apply the 800.00 he paid on the 1st toward his long-outstanding deposit and give him a Three Day Notice for the rent.

Can I?

I love the responses but can it please be limited to only people with professional knowledge? Thanks!

I have been a landlord in Los Angeles for many years and I am sick to death of the loser tenants and the states willingness to allow them to hold property hostage when they don't comply with their contractual agreements. The latest is this jerk who moved in on a month to month rental of a room in a large home (10 bed, 4bath) at 800/mo plus a share of the utilities. His utilities were 63.00 for himself and 63.00 for his girlfriend and he owed 400.00 on an 800.00 deposit which he agreed to pay on the 1st of this month. He failed to pay the remaining deposit and is now failing to pay his utilities. I am sick of the California BS. It costs approximately 1500.00 and takes up to 12 weeks to actually evict this ah-ole. Where can I invest (what state) that actually protects a property owner? Does one exist? I really want to hear from other landlords, please. Thanks for reading.

I recently kicked out a dead-beat tenant and now have become bombarded by endless porn spam from other countries and from here. Yahoo! spam filter seems inadequate as the stream of spam keeps coming. Can I block all international emails?

I own a property that had a 12,000 lien placed against it. During arbitration, the contractor conceded the release of the lien and promised to do so immediately. After the hearing he refused to do so. The arbitrator agreed to order the release of the lien in the award. The arbitrator is now not issuing the award until the budget is signed. The house is in escrow and I stand to lose 690,000.00 if the 'buyer' walks.

Do I have a case against the State who contracts the arbitration company? The Arbitration Company for breech? The contract with the Arbitration states no more than 30 days to issue awards. We are at day 27 with no award in sight.

Long story short. Contractor built carport not to code and when asked about it...got mad and quit. I filed a complaint with the State and we are going to mediation. He filed a lien against my house in June for 3 times the amount of the 5,000.00 contract (15000.00). He has no basis and was actually paid all the money due up until the time he quit, 2,500.00. I have estimates of repair to the carport at 5,900.00-7,400.00 as it has to be removed now and totally rebuilt. The house in question is in Escrow to be sold. What can I do? Also...he is a dead-beat who owns nothing of value.

What Group Performed the song and who was the strange lead singer?

I have a problem tenant who failed to give a full 30 days notice (she gave 21 days notice) of her intent to move out. She also is forcing me to submit a notice to show 24 hours in advance of every showing of the room. Technically, that is her right but most reasonable people who are moving without 30 days notice understand that acheiving full deposit return is based on the need for repairs and the ability on my part to rent the room on the date she moves out. For this reason, most people would grant access with a phone call...not require written notice. I responded to this latest round of insanity with an email pointing out that if she is going to make my job tough, I will not even run the ad until the day she moves out and charge her deposit for the pro-rated days left on her 30 day notice (7 days). My question is this...I am I legally able to do so. Thanks.

This is the email that preceded him quitting and threatening a lien to get the other 50% of the money ...on work unfinished

To Bill (Contractor): Regarding your request for the other 50%.

I will pay when the work has been completed and approved by the inspector.

My biggest concern is the quality. Please, don't try and make this about me...I never shirked my payments for this or any other job. I have already paid 50% on this job - (State Law is limited to 10% down payment, by the way.)

I am asking only for you to correctly complete the work I have contracted you to complete according to the plans that were approved by the city. The work I see currently needs to be redone unless you can come up with another way of repairing it. It bows and curves due in a totally unacceptable fashion due to lack of a measuring tape (or the knowledge of how to use one). I expect the work to be completed and to be signed off by the inspector prior to you receiving another check.

Why not?

So now my neighbor has all the other neighbors filing false complaints. Can I sue her and them for harassment? If so, what are my chances? The city inspectors told me they will make statements confirming everything I am claiming. I just want them to leave me alone but they will not stop.

All the work has been done with approved plans and permits and it is all fully occupied with 10 tenants under a one year lease. They are all students at CSUN and we have no complaints for noise or anything else. My neighbor lady keeps calling the Department of Building and Safety and demanding investigations. They come out and inspect (5 times so far) and tell her that it is all legal but she keeps attempting to create problems. She says there are housing laws forbidding more than a certain number of unrelated people living together in a residential neighborhood. Is this true? If so, where can I get the code or law governing this?

We live in California and my wife went to a gynecologist for an examination after a traffic accident. The doctor ordered 6 lab tests totalling 1200.00. There was no prior disclosure or explanation and the doctor knew we were cash payers. Is this legal? How can you agree to pay for treatment when you don't know what the prices are?

I own a rental house that has 8 bedrooms and 3 baths. I permited an additional 2 bedrooms and an additional 2 baths. I rented all the 8 original rooms out and now have begun the permited and approved additions. My neighbor is pounding on the desk at city hall and demanding investigations. They initially told her to stow it but now her persistance is getting attention. They issued the permits....can they take them back after signing them off. Can I sue her for harrassment? What do you suggest? Oh, by the way, forget about the 'bake a cake, send flowers and be friends' routine. She won't be rational and pretends that everything is fine while carrying on like a maniac to the city. She thinks she runs the block. Thanks for any help.

I have a guest house with rooms to rent. The room in question was occupied but the tenant had taken a job up north and wanted to move although he was under a one-year lease. I placed notices and started showing the room.

I was contacted by a girl looking for a place for her boyfriend. She came by, loved it, called him and gave me a 260.00(of the 500.00 deposit) with the understanding that the deposit balance and the rent would be paid within one week and that the boyfriend would sign a lease for 1 year to get a 600/mo rental rate (discounted from 700/mo for the one-year lease). They didnt showed up within the week but called to confirm that they still wanted the room. They insisted that they needed it immediately (by the 1st of March). The current tenant received his deposit back and left.

The boyfriend called the 4 days later to postpone the move till April (1 month). He called yesterday to cancel the move. He wants the 260.00 back. I said no. Any thoughts?

I can't get it work. I see these awesome ads with huge photo layouts and want to know how to do it with my ads. Thanks!

Can it be done? One exterior pane is cracked due to sloppy painter. Can it be replaced opr does it require a complete window replacement?

I just bought a rental property in a nice area and I have been refurbishing it. Mostly painting and small repair but now I am refinishing the hardwood floors. I am sanding floors and my neighbor is tripping out. I am using rented sanders and it was only 7:00pm. They aren't that loud (you can barely hear them from outside) and I told her I would be finished at 10:00pm. She said you can't do it after 7pm. So who's right? The machines are expensive to rent and the work has to be finished. I don't want a problem but I feel that it is important to finish so we can stain and do the base boards tomorrow.

Home value at Appraisel-840,000

Purchase Price-507,000

Seriously...do you really think Penelope Cruz gives a damn about Yahoo Answers??