Location: California.
The caveat here is that my friend and his roommate did not sign a lease or any other paperwork with this landlord (I’m aware this is dumb). This is a small town and the landlord is an acquaintance of the roommates, so I guess that’s why they did it so informally.
Initially the landlord wanted $3500 monthly, but offered to let them pay $2500 until the roommates sister was able to move in. I believe they have been paying the $2500 for three months, and the third roommate is set to come in a few weeks. But the landlord decided that she wants the $3500 now, and is telling them that they must pay her the 1k difference in four days or face eviction.
I know my friend and his roommate were not very smart in this, but it doesn’t seem to me that the landlord is operating legally. But since there is no lease and the 3.5k amount was originally spoken about, do they have any recourse? 3.5k a month is too expensive for them (honestly 2.5k is too expensive for them), and I’m not sure if they can come up with 1k in four days.
Comments
What sort of residence is this?
CA requires more notice, but if this is AB 1482 covered, then they can’t raise the rent more than once a year, and not more than 10%.
Your friend is a month to month tenant and cannot be evicted in 4 days. He needs to know not to leave unless he just wants out of the whole situation. He should inform his landlord that he will be sticking to his verbal month to month lease of $2500 a month. If the landlord wants to raise his rent, he can give proper legal notice. California requires 60 days written notice to increase rent more than 10%. A $1000 increase is more than 10%. Your friend is in one of the most tenant friendly states in the union. This landlord is about to find out really fucking quickly if he tries to go through with an eviction.
Legal aside, they agreed to $2500 for 2 and $3500 for 3, and the 3rd is coming in a few weeks. So what’s the problem? By the 3rd moving in the rent effectively becomes cheaper.
Let’s assuming a few weeks is 14 days, and the landlord is saying to pay in 4 days? Really, there’s a disagreement over 10 days? What’s missing in this story?
It sounds like there is an agreement for $3500 and he gave them a discount for a couple months so the 10% rule/60 day notice wouldn’t apply here. I would tell them that they agreed to the discount for 3 months and the agreement is in place for when the higher amount is due.
NAL; even without a lease you still have tenant rights in California, I forget the exact time frame but I think that 3months of living in a place makes you eligible for tenant protections. This means the landlord must give you 30days notice to vacate before beginning the eviction process. Without a lease documenting the $2500 rent I’m not sure that there anything preventing the increase to 3500, but the landlord would still need to give you advanced notice of rent increase. They can’t just say “give me $1000 or I kick you out tomorrow”, that would be considered an illegal eviction.
As I see it, your choices are to either 1) tell her that you’ll honor the previously agreed upon $2500 for the month and would like a formal rental agreement drafted and minimum 30days notice for the increase to $3500 rent, 2) play nice and pony up$1000, hoping that’ll let you stay while risking having ambiguity and a crappy landlord til you move out or get a lease, or 3) give her 30days notice that you’ll move out, & start looking to find a cheaper place with a better landlord.
Not the most detailed advice, but it’s a start I hope! You do have rights, I would suggest you look them up so you know what recourse to seek should your landlord lock you out of your home or otherwise attempt to illegally evict you