3 day notice being put on door, tenant threating law suit

[Patti Bannister]

We are owners of a property that has a mobile home and a shed we rented out on a month to month rental contract....Tenant owes today for last month and was late for the month before: has been argumentive toward landlord and wife and has threatned us with a restraing order and say he will own this property. we are on social security and have no money to get a 30 day notice, have three day notice to pay or quit, with additional amounts of vandalism. He also stole from us (stealing from sheds and the property) His rental agreement: only for moble home and one shed. Please help.....we are charging the tenant now $5000 in damages to the mobile home, jackuzzi(sp) and roof of mobile home. mobile home was pristene when he moved in on April 8th of this year.....broken window, broken front door and floor. ripped up....charging on 3 day notice rent due, security fee(not paid) and electric bill(all on rental agreement signed and initialed by three people...landlords and tenant.....

[Account Closed]

Patti: In CA, fee waivers from the courts are available so you can go forward with your unlawful detainer (30 day). You need to go to the courts to file an unlawful detainer and ask the clerk for a fee waiver and see if you qualify. I'm pretty sure you do. You can also go to the local legal aid society and they can help you with the filing as well. The courts do help people who can't pay.

I advise you to stop communicating with the tenant and stop calling the police. You could hurt or delay your case by doing things like locking gates, etc. Tenant matters are civil matters, even when criminal activity is taking place. It's not right, but you have to control the situation with the legal channels available to you.

I disagree that eviction is a lengthy process in CA. The courts treat unlawful detainers as a priority and you can get your order and schedule a lock out in less than 60 days. The delays come when you make mistakes in the filing and serving the tenant. This is why you should seek legal aid society help.

The situation is manageable and all is not lost. You may want to consider selling the property after the eviction. Landlording with no reserves is costly and stressfull.