All Forum Posts by: John Sharpe

As an update for those following or finding this post later, the elderly parents who own the property made a trip to visit the house and check on their son.  I met them and now I see they're very concerned but their age and health are indeed making it very difficult to have any control of the situation and they're being taken advantage of enormously.  

A sheriff's deputy came with them to the house but the son blocked the parents from opening any locked doors etc and the deputy agreed with the son that he and the squatting drug dealers are protected like tenants.  In short the drug-dealing squatters have lots of rights, the property owners have few, and the son is protecting the squatters probably because he doesn't want to get cut off from his drug supply.  The elderly owners can't do much.  Very disappointing.  

I own an out-of-state condo that is just held in my own name and I decided it wouldn't be worthwhile to set up an LLC for it. Yes you get all depreciation write-offs etc as just an individual holder, and note your accountant will likely need to file a Delaware tax return each year for your rental income in Delaware, but this is usually easy and cheap. I keep a separate bank account for each property, I just think it's easier that way and it's fun to see the account fill up.
A nice little perk:  travel expenses for you to go back to Delaware to check on your property are deductible, which could be handy if you plan to return to the area often.

@Mary M.  Thank you Mary, I see we're on the same page and I appreciate the tips.  My list of vehicle license plates is getting quite long and I e-mail an update every couple days to the authorities, which they seem to appreciate.  

I think I should clarify: @Mary M. I like the landscape idea but it's not the aesthetics we're most worried about.  In the past 2 weeks alone my good neighbors and I have witnessed hand-to-hand drug transactions right on the curb while looking out the window in the middle of the day, prowling creepy trespassers hiding out underneath our decks and on our porches in the middle of the night, a huge amount of vehicle traffic visiting the property all night and even a parked car on the street with two adults in it coming down from very hard drugs (authorities were called promptly).  Going back further we know there was at least one OD death in the house last year.  It's very dangerous, period.  It would be totally unethical for my good neighbors and I to pretend we don't see it and do nothing. 
And that brings me to @Steve K.  my real question, what would I be suing for?  I don't know as there isn't a quantifiable loss for me... creating a dangerous situation?  My own lack of sleep and anxiety?  I was looking for some guidance if that's even a real thing a lawyer would put in a letter.  

@Scott Mac  You're exactly right and as the parents seem to be logical people, that's why the neighborhood is pivoting to try to put more pressure on them to help.  Several of us have had conversations with the absent parents by phone or email, mostly urging them to help fix things (like put the house under care of a property manager) or even sell the property outright.  I've sent them photos of the property recently so they can see how terrible it looks so their asset is going to need some major repairs.  The parents' responses are usually about how they're not medically able to visit the property (and don't communicate with the son) and something ambiguous to buy more time like, "we'll think about what we can do."  Very frustrating.  That's why I'm thinking a lawsuit from the neighborhood might push some meaningful response.  No one likes the prospect of losing money or even just having to consult a lawyer.  We don't appreciate that they've cast their problems on our neighborhood from afar.  

Thank you all, we as a neighborhood have tried all of the above suggestions multiple times/ways.   I think our local authorities are stretched too thinly, and whereas we just want the occupants of the house "gone" I'm guessing the authorities don't want them scattered like we do.  Very frustrating.  

@Wayne Brooks That's the focus of my question. A threatened lawsuit wouldn't need to succeed, but to prod them might be useful.  I should add there's been at least one OD death in the house and I'm pretty sure the owners are paying the expenses like utilities and probably even code enforcement citations so it seem to me they're exposed to liability.  

Correct, the law enforcement are very involved but this has been going on for quite a while, mostly with a rotating cast of characters (the son being the only constant as far as I can tell).  My next hope is to get the owners to do something, and as they've been ignoring the problem this whole time we (the neighbors) are hoping a lawsuit threat would prod them to sell the property or somehow take care of it.  My question is if we can initiate a lawsuit because of their gross negligence which is harming our neighborhood?  

The house next door is owned by elderly couple (in a living trust) who live a couple hours away and bought the very nice house several years ago for their brain-fried and/or druggie divorced adult son to have a place to live.

It's literally a drug house, well documented legally, and infamous in our community. The druggie son seems to lock himself in one room (he's rarely lucid) and a bunch of drug-dealing criminals have pretty much taken over the large house, with or without the son's permission. The other neighbors and myself work very closely with the exasperated law enforcement, but there's not a lot they can do (not trying to make this post about CA's lax drug laws, squatters' rights etc).

I've been in contact with the elderly owners several times and made it clear that their property is a huge problem for our neighborhood and local law enforcement. They have almost no contact with their son living in the house but are aware of all the problems.  However they don't do anything at all, and aren't even able or willing to travel to the property to see it. The amount of liability they're taking on by allowing this criminal flop house to continue seems astounding to me, but maybe they feel protected since the house is owned by a living trust.

With this really being unbearable, the drug trafficking at all hours, and the house looks terrible in our neighborhood of nice homes, so the other neighbors and I are wondering if we can sue the owners?

The intent here is not to get money from the elderly owners, but to maybe prod them into selling the house or taking some minimal amount of care for it. Does anyone know about lawsuits against negligent owners of crime-infested properties in CA? Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

Cool, that will help a lot.  Happy house hunting!  

Hi AJ, 

I'm a Crestline resident.  My observations: it's harder here than "down the hill" to find good contractors, tradesmen, etc, or at least the good ones here are too busy.  If thinking about a fix-and-flip you might want to first ask recommended contractors etc down the hill if they'd be willing to take on a project up here.  Many won't.  

For STRs, yes they seem to be pretty lucrative, even more so since Covid began.   
I only own my primary residence here but I have several friends and neighbors operating STRs and they seem happy.

I've noticed local realtors asking around for any available long term rentals. It makes sense that they're hard to find because most owners go the STR route, but long term leasing might be a reasonable alternative too.

I hope that helps!