I need to know my tenant rights regarding renting an RV that is parked in front of the owner's house.?

Question

Here's the whole situation. At the start of september, my wife and I really needed to find a place to move in to quickly, and a guy who is also landlord of the house he lives in where he rents out the other rooms, offered to rent us his personal RV parked in front for 600 a month. We paid in cash then my unemployment benefits stopped coming so we were unable to pay the next months rent in october. After doing  a brief job to afford our phone bill & catfood, we were able to pay the landlord 20$ of october's rent, where we got him to sign a piece of paper stating such and that we were renting tenants and owed him the rest. Now on Nov. 1st, he came into the cab without asking, repeatedly yelled at us to get out and stated he will drive off with the RV tomorrow at noon whether we are gone or not. Also all our power is supplied by an extension cord running from the house, which he has repeatedly unplugged recently to "get our attention", often without even knocking or talking to us first.
He has not supplied any legal eviction paperwork so far and claims that since the RV is his personal property he doesn't need to file any court order and that if the police were called, they would throw us right out.

What my questions are, what are our rights in this situation? We obviously want to move out as soon as possible, but do not have a place or reliable incomes yet and assumed he would have to do the usual 3-day pay or vacate, then issue a court date routine before he could do anything forcible to us. 
Additionally, I thought being supplied power & utilities were an undeniable right of tenants, up until a complete legal eviction has been processed.

Thanks for any reliable help anyone can offer. My wife and I are pretty afraid for our safety and security, and this situation isn't making it any easier to get out of it.

Slickterp · Accepted Answer

1.  It's likely not legal you live in the RV anyway.
2.  He can't unplug power.

He CAN evict you.  It's now Novemeber and you haven't paid October rent.  Easy eviction for him.  

So you had no job and no income...and you got a kitten?  Seriously?

Joseph · Answer

Just call the cops and they'll come out and let everyone know where things stand. Most of the people who rent out Dont realize how much they cant get away with due to not knowing renters rights. Im sure he'll be in the wrong on a few things.

ApricotDanish · Answer

I'm sorry you're in this difficult situation.  I think Pascal the Gambler gave you a good summary of the relevant info.  THe RV you rented out to live in is not a legal rental situation, since in most cities you cannot live in an RV on a public street.  In fact in many cities it is illegal even to PARK an RV on the street.  (You can live in one in a mobile home park or other park designated for such living situations)  Since you agreed to rent this space in this RV, however, it would be hypocritical of you to try to take any action against the landlord for renting out an "illegal rental."  You got what you wanted with your eyes open going in. 
That said, even if you're living in an illegal situation, your landlord still cannot evict you without going through the proper channels.  You're right in that he has to go through the usual procedure of first giving you a 3 day notice to pay or quit. THen if by the 3rd day you haven't paid he can serve on you  an unlawful detainer aka eviction lawsuit.  He would get a court date for that, which is likely to be at least 20 days off.  (However, do keep in mind that if you get an unlawful detainer suit filed against you it stays on your record and can create big problems for you in trying to obtain rentals in the future, if other landlords discover this on your record).  
No landlord can legally just yell at someone to get out or cut them off from power, and I think this is true even if the power is being supplied illegally, as in your case, through an extension cord.  (However, if anyone were to complain about the illegal electrical connection going on here, I suppose that he would have to remove the extension cord, because legally he cannot power a rental unit through an extension cord to an RV).  A landlord cutting off a tenant's power is considered "constructive eviction" and it's illegal.  However as I say, since the power is being supplied to you illegally, there's a grey area there.  
There's another grey area here too -- is the RV parked on the street, or in his driveway or otherwise on his property? If it's parked on a city street,  in most municipalities, it cannot be left indefinitely in one spot on the street.  In my area in California most vehicles have to be moved every 3 days.  Any vehicle that isn't moved every 3 days can be legally towed away by the city.  If some parking limit applies and you're on the street, your landlord or anyone else could have the RV towed away.  If someone calls in and complains and the RV gets a note put on it by the police that it has to be moved, and you don't have the keys, the landlord would have to move it, and perhaps to a spot that is no longer in front of his house, where he can't supply you power with a cord.  

I suggest that you tell him you've spoken to a tenant's rights attorney and found out that he is acting illegally by yelling at you to get out, or threatening to cut off your power.  TEll him that you WILL be leaving, but that in the meantime he has to pursue the proper legal channels to get you out of the rental unit.  THen I suggest you find a new place ASAP.  

If you don't have money to live in someone's RV, where do you think you're going to live?  Your money problems are not a landlord's problem, so don't make them his problem.  Even if he isn't a nice person, you still have to follow the law and pay for what you agreed to pay for, or leave.

? · Answer

Do not know what country u live in But
here locally u aren't "tenants". u are just 
folks being ripped off.

suggest u pack up and find local homeless
shelter for next few weeks hopefully.
 
seriously an RV in most places is not legal
rental.

do not waste your time 'fighting' this.
just get out and get on with life.

homeless shelters have assistance getting 
u and her on your feet again.

OK  google renter/landlord laws in your state.
as for this being legal, depends on city laws
also.

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I need to know my tenant rights regarding renting an RV that is parked in front of the owner's house.?

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