Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

my family and I moved into the house that my husband grew up in. His father told us we could move in to the house which he said "is in a living trust to Robert and another family member) for when he dies. He said we could pay 1000 dollars a month plus utilities and that money could go towards a down payment and house payments, and we could then buy the house from him like he did from his mother. Once we moved to the house he told us that he was going to maintain residency in the house and that we would only be able to rent it. He didn't have us sign an agreement and also did not respect our privacy and would harass us about leaving lights on and overfilling the garbage can. We complained that we didn't have any kind of written document to protect us from harassment. He then wrote up a rental agreement that still did not seem to protect our right to privacy and freedom from harassment. Because we didn't sign the lease and he would not consider our input for the aggreement he gave us a 30 day notice. He is now suing us for rent from when he evicted us and when we moved out. In this kind of situation what rights do we have as tenants? Since he claimed to be living in the house. We don't feel we need to pay him back rent because of his constant harassment and lack of compromse on a payment aggreement.


Asked on 2/11/12, 5:28 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
David Gibbs The Gibbs Law Firm, APC

First, without a written agreement regarding the "arrangement" to buy the home, you really have no grounds to assert his lack of "comprom[i]se on a payment agreement" as a basis for not paying rent. Any contract or agreement regarding the purchase of real estate must be in writing. The conversations really amount to nothing more than that - conversations and possibly negotiations, but the failure to reach an agreement before you moved in is not grounds not to pay rent. Until you had a written agreement on what sounds like a "lease-option," you really had nothing more than an agreement to rent or lease the property. So, now you are likely nothing more than tenants, and he has the right to give you notice to move, and likely has the right to sue you for unpaid rent. Harassment is generally not grounds to not pay rent - there are very limited circumstances in the state of California under which you can stop paying rent while still living in a rental property, and harassment generally doesn't reach that level. Again, the compromise on the lease-option is not going to be a defense. You can assert the issue of harassment, but be prepared that you will not likely prevail. It is also irrelevant that he was living or claiming to live in the property - you were still tenants in property he owned.

*Due to the limitations of the LawGuru Forums, The Gibbs Law Firm, APC's (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. Further, information you provide to the Firm through this website is not confidential - it is available publicly to anyone visiting this website. The Firm shall have no obligation to keep the information you provide herein confidential in any context. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence. As required by 11 U.S.C. �528, we must now disclose that, "We are a debt relief agency. We help people file for bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code. Assistance we provide with respect to Debt Relief may involve bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code."

Read more
Answered on 2/13/12, 12:30 pm


Related Questions & Answers

More Landlord & Tenants questions and answers in California