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Our tenants are in the process of being evicted for non-payment of rent. We issued 13 three day notices over the past two years but this time have followed through. In February of this year we planned to evict but tenant came to us with knife wound across his face as he had been "jumped and robbed" he said and unable to work. We gave a grace period until June 2006 to catch up on rent. He agreed but only fell further behind in payment. Meanwhile, we were issued an "Order to Comply" stating we had two illegal units (we have been trying to legalize these for several years, spent over $12,000 and gotten approval from DOH but it has been cost prohibitive to make changes asked by B&S.) We were ordered to make these changes in the apartment complex or evict the tenants. The changes are quite expensive as this is a 1941 building and the requirements for today have changed substantially. A family member of theirs has lived in the unit for over 40 years and it appears to have been built for occupancy. On July 5th we got an extension from the Housing Department to continue resolving this situation. In June, we issued the non-payment of rent eviction notice to tenants in one of these units. They are now taking us to court with a litany of falsehoods because we assume they want to be evicted under the Notice to Comply rather than for non payment of rent. They pay minimal rent - when they pay. Now we have to go to court. Everything we read appears to support our eviction for non-payment of rent but with the eviction defense team on their side is there anything we need to know about legalities of precedence of orders, etc.? They said lawyers at Social Justice told them not to pay their rent in June. Why would they tell them that? We have always registered these two units and paid all fees required by the city. We bought the building as a 26 unit building and did not find out about the two units until an appraisal was done many years later. Since then, we have been trying in various ways to rememdy the s ituation. We are on site, hands on owners/managers.

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Los Angeles, California

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Customer (name blocked for privacy)

Status: Closed Value: $20

Dear Customer (name blocked for privacy),
The angle of the social justice attorneys may be that of habitability since you are not yet in full compliance with all the laws. Some states would excuse the tenant from paying rent if the premises are uninhabitable.. However, the circumstances have to be really bad for this to apply. The standard is usually that of being reasonably suitable for human residence. Unless, whatever minor violations with the code deal is considered to be so bad that it would meet the criteria of being uninhabitable, then they may fail. It depends on what the statute says in regards to that. My Bar/Bri Materials note that the standard that is usually applied is the local housing code. However, since you served them with an eviction notice first, taking you to court under the Notice to Comply just seems like a bad idea. They may figure they can buy themselves a little more time from being evicted but it would seem that if you donot comply with the code and they shut down your building then the tenants are forced to move anyway.
You will need to check with a local attorney about this, but since they are taking you to court you possibly could file a countersuit for or under an unlawful detainer statute if one exists in California. They might call them something else there but it basically operates in the following way, These statutes provide for a quick hearing, but severely limit the issues that may be raised. Under most statutes, the only issue properly before the court is the landlord's right to rent and repossession. The tenant cannot raise counterclaims. Another words if you had filed suit first for their failure to pay rent and failure to move out, under such a statute they would lose because their failure to pay/and/or surrender possession to you would be the issue at the hearing. They likely could not raise any habitability issues.
Lastly, and prior to your court date, I would suggest you get a free consultation with an attorney and even if you have to pay for an hours worth of advice after that, it would be worth your time to do so. You can discuss with them the points I made above and see what your options are. That way, even if you are going to represent yourself, you will have all your ducks in a row before you go into court.
I hope that my sugeestions were helpful. Best of Luck to you. Please don't forget to click on the green accept button.:)
Sincerely,
JurisD7603

Reply to JurisD7603's Post: Thank you for your help. Just to clarify, we issued a 3 day notice in June (based on an agreement with the tenant made in February that rent would be totally caught up and paid by June - but it was not) and that turned into an unlawful detainer action. The Housing Department issued a notice to us to comply in March but at a hearing in July we were given extended time to comply by making changes to the building or evicting the tenants. We are still working on that. We assume the reason that we have the court date is that the tenants want to be evicted to receive the relocation fee that goes with the order to comply rather than for non-payment of rent.
Yes, your suggestions were helpful based upon the limited information I gave you. We do need more Los Angeles/California specific information so will make a date with the attorney.

Dear Customer (name blocked for privacy)
Glad that I was able to be of help and hope that my suggestions are helpful when you go to talk to an attorney. I didn't realize that your tenant could actually get relocation money under that Notice to Comply. When you have your consultation with the attorney please bring up this point. If you filed the unlawful detainer action first shouldn't that be resolved before the Notice to Comply comes to Court?
Best of Luck to You!
Please don't forget to click on the green accept button.
Sincerely,
JurisD7603

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