Help with sueing landlord and homeowner's

[WizardWalt]

Can anyone help with ‘pressing charges’/’filing a lawsuit’ against a live-in landlord? (& Possibly against the homeowner as well, who is a separate individual and does not live on the property.)



He has physically assaulted a disabled lady three times inside the house and entered both of her and her live-in IHSS care provider’s two rooms multiple times without any cause, any form of legal/proper notice, and without their permission – generating numerous police reports in a documented, escalating pattern over about a week and a half – and they were gracious (and probably foolish) in NOT pressing charges at the time.



Then, she was forced to report that he had broken into -- STILL without notice, cause, or permission – her LOCKED bedroom somehow (he had not yet received his copy of the key to her doorknob) – *and Replaced it with ONLY a KNOB*, removing any ability to even CLOSE the door, let alone LOCK it – this latest offense, she had to report from a hospital bed during an 8-day stay.... Her caregiver (helping out entirely on an Unpaid, volunteer basis while she wasn’t AT ‘home’, due to CA/IHSS policy) had discovered the break-in upon returning ‘home’ briefly to pick up a few things for her and informed her as soon as he arrived back at the hospital. She – thinking the responsible thing to do (of course?) was to report it immediately, even though she was lying in a hospital bed – was shocked, dismayed, & appalled when she tried to do so, *and the officer on the phone told her it was “NOT ILLEGAL”* (unless something was missing), which of course, she could not ascertain at that time (though the doorknob itself was obviously missing).



Upon discharge from the hospital, she and her caregiver returned to find most of their belongings out in the driveway; however, police STILL refused to arrest him without proof of something being missing right then and there, despite his confessing directly to the officer that he had done it. When asked WHY – after being told MULTIPLE times by MULTIPLE POLICE OFFICERS “NOT to HARASS her or her care provider, ENTER either of their rooms, NOR ‘mess with’ their belongings”, he went ahead and illegally broke into both rooms and put most of their stuff outside, he simply responded (still right in front of the officer’s bodycam), “The [home]owner told me to.” (The owner of the property had neither responded to their attempts to contact him previously, nor had he tried to contact them by US mail, email, phone, text, in person, or by any other method – no notice was given whatsoever – not a 30-day notice, not a 3-day notice, not even a notice of intent to enter premises, NOTHING legal was presented to this disabled tenant and her care provider regarding their rooms. The officer of course told them they had the legal right to remain there regardless of the doorknobs being gone and the landlord “still had no right to enter”, but with no way to lock the door and being the middle of the night, they simply packed up their stuff into their vehicle and slept in the front seats that night.



Since finally having had a chance to go thru things, many things have been found to be missing and broken; but the overall principle of the matter is a far more major issue. The house is still legitimately their official home address, yet they feel unsafe returning without police escort/’civil standby’ and/or restraining order. They’ve tried all of the local legal aid foundations, and there is a conflict of interest with all of them, in some form or other; they have never ‘pressed charges’ or anything before, and need some serious help & guidance. She has social anxiety and has not been able to complete the forms to even request the restraining order. He works multiple jobs and has been struggling just to make ends meet, especially with the sudden unexpected upheaval; he has not had the time and energy to help with such things either, and does not know how to even begin to try.

>^.^<

[jesswolfe]

I'm so sorry that these people are dealing with this. I wish i had something to offer but in trying to get help with a rental situation I've discovered I either get ghosted or there are conflicts of interest. How do organizations who are supposed to help vulnerable renters in this county do any actual work with conflicts of interest? I'm assuming its from working with these owners?

[Dorothy Friberg]

Perhaps Adult Protective Services can help. This, to me, is clearly elder abuse. Thank you for posting this tragic story, events like this happen all too frequently to vulnerable people with small voices.

Can anyone help with ‘pressing charges’/’filing a lawsuit’ against a live-in landlord? ...

[gaiasophia]

Try CRLA (California Rural Legal Assistance), NBOP(North Bay Organizing Project), and to reach Fair Housing --I think to reach fair housing, you have to call Petaluma Peoples Services.

What does it say in your rental agreement? I think legally they're required to give you 24 hours notice before they enter.

However, it's very important to know that lawsuits usually take a long time and that lawsuits are usually won by whoever has the most money.

Help her fill out the forms for restraining order yourself..that's probably the first step.

However restraining orders often don't help.

Contact disability rights advocates...

Sometimes a law student might help. Contact Redwood Empire Law School etc. (look on line for all this stuff).

I'm very aware of the lack of low income rentals, but it's probably wiser to move--especially since the guy lives there, and also because the owner is unresponsive.

When sending things thru mail regarding all this:
Spend the extra money to send so that owner, etc., must sign for mail and your friend will be mailed the receipt.

Keep a copy of everything you mail, etc.

The legal system is all about having papers to prove your side.

So documenting (keeping track of dates and times and what happens, getting proof owner received the mail etc.) is necessary.

It's also important to realize there are always 2 sides to every story...

Probably too difficult for her to document stuff also.

NBOP is very knowledgeable about renter's rights.

BTW, Pressing charges is through the police or sheriff, etc.

Filing a lawsuit involves court.

Be aware that all this will further anger the perpetrator.

Truly seems safer to move (so sorry)...

Good luck! Thanks for caring!

Oh--I just saw Dorothy's suggestion re: Adult Protective Services! That's a great idea!

[rossmen]

You could try again to change the locks. The owner might have the right to a key, their agent not directly. Get good ones and make sure they are hard to jimmy. Running from this fight leaves you no rights.