Tenant Defense Information for Abusive Lanldords

As I keep on doing more research on the hostile, vindictive treatment I have and am enduring from my previous landlord, Duran Rentals, I found this resource for those out there that find themselves in the same or similar situation I find myself in.  Check out this link here for information on your rights as a tenant:

http://tenantdefenders.com/problems-with-the-landlord/.

As I have said before, you have to KNOW your rights to be able to defend yourself as slumlords are NASTY, VINDICTIVE property owners that don't know and recognize the rights of tenants!

Update to Landlord Retaliation by Duran Rentals

For those of you who read my blog, you know some of the illegal HELL I have endured by Duran Rentals, whom I rented from for the past 11 years.

Well, here is an update:  I got the documentation back today from them on the damages my family and I supposedly caused in the property and the property manager, in her documentation to me, actually accused me of "locking my cat up in the house".  Here is what she said, in quotes, from the email she sent me"  "This is the worst case of animal urine and feces damage I have ever witnessed to a home caused by pet owner negligence from locking their animals inside a dwelling for 11 years and allowing the animal (cat) to urinate and crap all over the floor thoroughout the home.".  I have two things to say in my defense here:  I had to put my cat down in 2013 due to him having gotten liver disease (which they have documentation of).  Furthermore, when an animal or a person gets sick with certain diseases, they lose control of their faculties, which is exactly what happened to my cat, that is why I put him down.  However, he did NOT urinate and drop feces throughout the whole house, like they say.  It is just a bunch of LIES!!!

Secondly, I find it irnoic how they say I owe them money from the $1200 security deposit my family and I paid when we moved in considering I landscapped the backyard, spending over $400 from my own pocket, which they give me NO credit for.  I also find it ironic how they fail to recognize the fact I built an outdoor litter box for my cat in the backyard.

These people don't know the housing laws, don't recognize tenant rights under state and federal laws and victimize people like me who do stand up for their rights.  Case in point:  the tenant who lives at 123 A Madden, the house in front of the one my family and I lived in, was without her washer and dryer after the December 2012 floods.  She did not email the City Manager and the landlord as I did, and is NOT being treated ill as I am.

Again, I say KNOW YOUR RIGHTS under ANY and ALL circumstances, but especially when it comes to dealing with slumlords!!!!

BEFORE you rent, KNOW your rights under state and federal law!!!

For those of you who follow my posts, I just wrote in the past two days about the HORRIBLE treatment I have received from my past landlord.  So, I wanted to publish the email I got from the property manager, showing where she threatened to call the cops on me.  Here is the first email the property manager sent me:

Duran Rentals	Jul 2 (7 days ago)
to me

July 2, 2014

Dear Pat,

Your backdoor neighbors who live at 125 Madden Lane #B have reported to me by phone call this morning that you dumped several items on the ground beside their house somewhat next to the dumpster, including (but not limited to) 2 box springs, a mattress, 2 entertainment centers, a vacuum, a shop vacuum, a television, a computer screen, a  wheelbarrow full of “crap”, and a dresser.  THIS IS NOT COOL and you should have disclosed this to me when we met for the move out inspection yesterday at 2:00 p.m.  These items were out of my sight during the inspection so I did not notice them.  Photographs of these items have already been taken, and  you will be charged for the cost of our labor and expense to clean it up.  I was very casual about the condition you left the duplex in yesterday, but you not being honest about dumping a lot of your large garbage items on our property is a bit unsettling.  Consider this e-mail a preliminary itemization of what will be deducted from your deposit. 

As we discussed yesterday you will also be charged for our cost to clean up the additional garbage you left in the back yard including a dishwasher, a barbeque, 2 long pieces of wood, a patio table metal base, and all cigarette butts strewn about the front and back yards.  And, in the interior of the home, you will be charged for the missing dining room ceiling light fixture, the 2 missing kitchen cabinet doors, replacement of all torn and damaged screens (which was pretty much every one on the house other than one or two), the cost to cover up the deep dark colors you painted the interior of the residence and the garage, and for removal of the 3 shelves/coat racks you attached to the walls in the living room and bedroom.  The refrigerator still needs some light cleaning as well, as does the garage door, etc.  And, there was a lot of food compost material left on the ground in the back yard that will have to be picked up.   There are also  unprofessionally-patched (holes in the walls caused by you and patched by you during your tenancy) hole(s) in the sheetrock walls that will be repaired by a drywall professional.  And, as we discussed yesterday you cut out carpet behind the door in the first guest bedroom where your cat urinated and I immediately noticed the room smelled of cat feces and urine; so we will be addressing the issue of whether or not the subflooring is saturated with cat urine also once the carpet and padding is removed.

Everything will be documented by photographs, and we will begin the process of repairing all items listed as soon as possible. 

Most of the items you dumped next to the dumpster Solid Waste of Willits will not accept in their household waste garbage dumpsters so all of these items will have to be driven to the landfill in Willits or Ukiah.  I am giving you the opportunity to return to Madden Lane and pick up the large garbage items you left behind 123 Madden #B and the garbage you placed beside 125 Madden #B.  The man and woman living in the residence at 125B Madden Lane behind the residence you leased from us at 123B Madden Lane are very upset that you dumped all of your furniture and large items of garbage in their side yard!  The man told me he had to move some of the garbage you dumped just to park his car! 

I told you yesterday that I would attempt to get you as much of your deposit back as possible, but in consideration of everything mentioned above and the manpower and expense it will take to deal with the condition you left the premises in, it’s unlikely.

I don’t want to go back and forth with you by e-mail discussing all of these items, but the facts contained in this e-mail stand, and I will get back to you when I have a better idea of the total costs we will have to pay out to repair all damage and for dump fees.  Have a nice day.

Sincerely,

Diana Simmons

Duran Rentals, L.L.C.

P.O. Box 681

Redwood Valley, CA  95470

(707)462-8085

Here is the second email she sent me that day:

Duran Rentals	Jul 2 (7 days ago)
to me

Pat,

In fact, illegally dumping garbage is a crime!

Diana

Here is the reply email I sent her:

Patricia Bennett <pattyb4261@gmail.com>	Jul 2 (7 days ago)
to Duran, Joanna

Diana...I have just earned my AA degree in criminal justice so I know you have to PROVE intent, and as I said in the earlier email, it was NOT our intent to do anything illegal...the help I hired two weeks ago did NOT SHOW.

Plus, I am friends with some of the police officers on the Willits Police Force and they do know my character, so it is highly doubtful they would arrest me, so BACK OFF.

A copy of this email will go to my attorney as well.

Ms. Bennett

Here is the next email I sent the property manager:

Patricia Bennett <pattyb4261@gmail.com>	Jul 2 (7 days ago)
to Duran, Joanna

Something else you need to know...when the kitchen cabinets were damaged by my son, I DID go to Ace Hardware in Willits and actually ordered a new set of doors to go on there (you can verify this information with Jennifer, who is the employee at Ace I dealt with), however, the doors were the wrong size.  I then found out the cabinet doors were originally ordered by Home Depot in Ukiah so I went there to buy more doors.  I was told by an employee there they no longer carry that particular model.  My apologies for not contacting your company then to figure out a solution but I DID intend to repair the damage.

My son had also kicked in the hall bathroom door, which you knew nothing about as I was able to rep[lace that door.  So again, PLEASE do NOT accuse me of trying to be dishonest as that is NOT my character.

As I said earlier, my attorney will get a copy of ALL these emails.

Ms. Bennett

Here is the third email I got from the property manager:

Duran Rentals	Jul 2 (7 days ago)
to me

July 2, 2014

Pat Bennett:

Like I stated in my e-mail sent to you at 10:51 a.m. this date, I am offering you the opportunity to remove your garbage off the ground of our adjacent real property; that opportunity (window of time) expires at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, July 7, 2014.  The July 7 deadline gives you ample time to collect your unsightly debris and dispose of it in a lawful manner.   If ALL of the garbage you illegally dumped is  not removed from our property by 10:00 a.m. on July 7, 2014, I will report the incident to Willits Police Department,  you will receive a written citation and then you can then appear before a judge, and/or pay the imposed fine for illegal dumping and/or restitution to the property owner ordered by the judge on behalf of the State of California.    

The persons living at 125 Madden Lane #B are offended by your careless act and having to NOW look at the mess of debris you left in their yard.  PLEASE have some respect for others, and clean up your mess.

I do not have any more time to deal with this matter today, but I look forward to working with you so that this matter can be resolved.  It is my hope that when I get back to work on Monday morning and contact the persons living at 125 Madden #B, they inform me that you have taken the garbage away.  If you absolutely cannot get the van up there to take the garbage away, perhaps you can pay someone to do it for you.  I just spoke to Ed Cardillo (our maintenance man) who said he will  do the job for you for a fair price, and you pay the dump fees.  He said he will not accept a check, and that you must pay him in cash.  His cellular phone number is (707)671-6414.  I gave Ed a breakdown of all of the items you dumped on the ground, so he has an idea of what the job will entail.  Please give Ed a call at your earliest convenience.  Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation.

Diana Simmons  

From: Patricia Bennett [mailto:pattyb4261@gmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2014 12:03 PM
To: Duran Rentals
Cc: Joanna B
Subject: Re: 123 Madden Lane #B, Willits, CA

So, as you can see, in the first email this woman sent me, she said I'd be charged for the furniture waste that was left by the dumpster, indicating it was ok.  Then, in the second email she sent me, she stated "illegal dumping" was a crime, then in the third email she sent me, she stated she would call the police on me, I would get a citation, and be made to pay restitution to the property owner if I did not remove the items by her deadline.  How vindictive!  This is why I say KNOW your RIGHTS!

I know it's been a LONG time since I posted here.  However, I have some new information I'd like to share with my readers.  BEFORE you rent a new place, make sure you know your rights under the state laws you live in and make sure the landlord knows them, too so you won't find yourself dealing with the crap I've had to deal with.

In the duplex I lived in for the past 11 years, it flooded there 8 of the 11 years I lived there.  The last time it flooded, in December of 2012, I was a flood victim, having to evacuate my home as water came into the garage and almost into the house.  I wrote an email to the city manager and the landlord, due to the fact I had gotten tired of having to deal with this flooding, especially considering the fact I could SEE the water by looking in the heating vent in my bathroom.  (I remember one year it flooded and I could see the water in the floor vent, I called the owner and told him, and he actually had the nerve to tell me to put something heavy, such as a book, over the vent to keep the water from coming into the house.  Is he really so ignorant that he doesn't know that a book won't stop forceful water from coming up into a house????).   As a result, due to the insulation and heating ducts then having been underneath the house, the house was actually uninhabitable as defined by California Civil Code 1942.5.  Under this statute, the landlord CAN'T stop services or increase the rent.  I then got a notice of proposed rent increase in February of 2013, to be effective in April of that year, which according to CA Civil Code 1942.5, is illegal.  Plus, my rental agreement stated if there was damage to the unit that was NOT the fault of the tenant or the tenant's family or visitors, then the tenant would get a reduction in rent.  I also have a disability and according to the Fair Housing Amendment Act of 1988, people with disabilities are entitled to have their companion/service animal in their home with them free of pet fees.  I went back and forth with this man's attorney and the attorney is so incompetent that he quoted the Fair Housing Amendment Act of 1968 to me in his letter to me!!!!  This man should NOT be practicing law anymore!   As a result, I actually had to file a lawsuit against this property owner to get what was mine according to the law!

Then, last week when the property manager did the walk out inspection with me, she did go behind the house, but claims in an email to me that she did not see the furniture waste my daughter and I had to leave by the dumpster due to my hired help not showing up.  She then sent me a nasty email stating she would report me to the police if I did not move the items, AFTER she'd sent me the first email stating I'd be charged for their time to dump the items, indicating it was ok.   This is NOT good business as it is vindictive and threatening.   It should NOT be like this as landlord's need to abide by federal and state law and when you have good tenants like me, we need to be treated with respect.  This property owner I refer to owns the Madden St. duplexes on Madden St., between Commercial and East Valley in Willits, California.  He also owns properties in Lake County and other properties in Willits.  This property owner needs to be brought to justice!

Housing Laws, Landlords and Tenants

For those of you who have read any of my blogs, you know I am a true advocate for the consumer knowing their rights, under ANY circumstances.  That is because as things, in general, get worse in this world we live in, us consumers HAVE to be informed to fight against the all mighty and powerful money-hungry, greedy, corporate and government entities that want to suck us dry of our hard-earned money, our energy and time among other things we hold dear.  So, here is another story I want to share with you, this time, a civil legal matter I am enduring with my landlord.

My landlord, whom I have done business with for 10 years, this past May 2013, nor his property manager, unfortunately, know the housing laws.  Here is what has happened to me:

For the 8th year in a row of the 10 years my family & I have lived in this property, it flooded here for the 8th time in December of 2012!  As a result, my garage got flooded, ruining everything we had in there.  Plus, we couldn't run our central heat as at that time, the heating ducts and vents were underneath the house and there was standing water under my house for at least 24 days (we live in the mountains, it does snow here and it can get below 20 degrees here!).  Due to the fact this had been the 8th year it flooded here out of the 10 years we have lived here, I was tired of this crap and reported the flood damage, by email, to my landlord, the City Manager (who then forwarded my email to the city building inspector) as well as other appropriate agencies only wanting to know whether or not FEMA had declared this as a flood zone.

My landlord did hire a contractor to move the heating and duct work to the attic of my house, however, in January 2013, I was issued a notice of proposed rent increase to be effective April 1, 2013.  Knowing my rights, I started researching the housing laws.  California civil code 1942.5 states, "(a) If the lessor retaliates against the lessee because of the exercise by the lessee of his rights under this chapter or because of his complaint to an appropriate agency as to tenantability of a dwelling, and if the lessee of a dwelling is not in default as to the payment of his rent, the lessor may not recover possession of a dwelling in any action or proceeding, cause the lessee to quit involuntarily, increase the rent, or decrease any services within 180 days of any of the following:

(1) After the date upon which the lessee, in good faith, has given notice pursuant to Section 1942, or has made an oral complaint to the lessor regarding tenantability.

(2) After the date upon which the lessee, in good faith, has filed a written complaint, or an oral complaint which is registered or otherwise recorded in writing, with an appropriate agency, of which the lessor has notice, for the purpose of obtaining correction of a condition relating to tenantability.".  Therefore, I got busy and started writing letters and mailed them to my landlord, certified return receipt, of course, asserting my rights.  Due to my landlord's ignorance of the housing laws, I believe, he then got his attorney involved in his attempt to try to get me to back down.   

On top of this, my rental agreement I have with my landlord has a paragraph in it stating that since my landlord nor I terminated the contract, and the damage done to the house was of NO fault of mine or my family's, my rent shall be reduced.  As of today's date, July 30th, 2013, I have YET to receive my reduction in rent!!!  This is known, by law, as breach of contract.

Matters got more ridiculous due to the fact I also have a disability and under federal law, my landlord can no longer charge me pet fees for my dog as under federal law, she is deemed as a service / emotional companion animal and the law says landlords can't charge pet fees for such animals.   However, in an attempt for me to back down, my landlord's attorney wrote me citing the Fair Housing Amendment Act of 1968 versus the UPDATED Fair Housing Amendment Act of 1988!!!!  I'd NEVER want that particular attorney to represent me!!!  Here is what the Fair Housing Amendment Act of 1988, a federal law, says about these animals:

      Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988

          1)  Refusal to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices or services when 

                necessary to provide equal opportunity to use and enjoy a residential dwelling 

                is discriminatory—IE-waiver of a “not pets” rule.

          2)  Landlords must modify said policies, practices, or procedures to permit an individual 

                with a disability to use, own, and live with a service and/or emotional support animal 

                when doing so is necessary to provide a tenant an equal opportunity to use and enjoy the 

                dwelling.

          3)  Person who wishes to obtain and live with an emotional support or service animal may 

                 have to present documentation from a physician, psychiatrist, social worker, or other 

                mental health professional that the animal provides support which mitigates at least one 

                identified symptom of the disability.

          4)  Landlords cannot:

                Ask a tenant to pay a deposit, fee, or surcharge in exchange for having a service or

               emotional support animal, even if they require such a practice from owners who wish to  

               obtain pets in their dwelling.

          5)  Require than an emotional support animal have any specific training

          6)  Require the service or emotional support animal to wear or carry any special collar, harness,

                vest, emblem, or other means of identifying it as such.

          7)  Inquire about he extent of the disability, or ask for detailed medical records for the individual

                 requesting the service or emotional support animal.

          8)  A person with a disability may, however, be charged for damages caused to the premises 

                by their emotional support or service animal.

Well, as of today's date, July 30th, 2013, due to the fact I had to fight with my landlord and his attorney for six months over these issues (I even reported my landlord to the Fair Housing Commission and my landlord still maintained his position), I have YET to pay the proposed rent increase.  I expected to get an eviction notice, however, I haven't gotten one, which is good as my landlord has NO LEGAL GROUNDS to serve me with an eviction notice.  I now also have a lawsuit pending against my landlord for these issues among a couple of other things.  

Now, you may be wondering why haven't I just moved versus dealing with this crap.  Well, I have looked for other places here in this town I live in, however, housing discrimination runs deep in the town of Willits.  Therefore, I decided to file the lawsuit against my current landlord as I do not have the time, energy or money to fight all landlords in this town that practice federal housing discrimination but I do have the time, money and already put in the energy to fight my current landlord whom I have done business with for the past 10 years!  Plus, I am a full-time college student and have a part-time job waiting for me here in Willits that will work around my school schedule so I need to stay here in Willits for the time being.

My point here is, NEVER, NEVER back down to people when you know the law and your are within the law.  Instead, ALWAYS, ALWAYS exercise your rights so you don't get taken advantage of!!!!   For those of you who are interested in knowing who my landlord is, email me at pattyb4261@gmail.com and I will gladly give you the information!

YOUTH SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT CENTER

Hi. My name is Pat Bennett & I am the mother of a troubled 16 year old son that has been using illegal substances from the age of 8. I have advocated in the courtroom for him for the past 6 years and studied criminal justice & psychology for the past two years to help my son. I now want to open & operate a substance abuse treatment center here in the county which I live in, strictly for the youth.So, in my quest to start a YOUTH SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT CENTER for the youth of my home county, I have gotten involved in two legitimate, solid online businesses, one of which is the traffic boot camp. If you sign up with me in this business, I will set aside 50% of the $35.99 fee to put toward my substance abuse treatment center. Please check out the link & tell all your friends. http://www.thetrafficresource.com/pat

The Online Success Blueprint Live Workshop

www.thetrafficresource.com

Substance Abuse Prevention and Education