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Suing your landlord in California

by Stan Burman

Suing your landlord in California.

Suing your landlord in California is the topic of this blog post.

Suing your landlord in California makes sense in situations such as,

  • Your landlord has breached the contract that you have with them.
  • Your landlord has breached the covenant of good faith and fair dealing that requires each party to a contract to not do anything to unfairly interfere with the right of any other party to receive the benefits of the contract.
  • Your landlord has breached the covenant of quiet enjoyment of the premises in some way such as creating a nuisance, or otherwise harassing you.
  • Your landlord has unlawfully entered your unit without your permission and without good cause for doing so such as an emergency.
  • Your landlord has created a nuisance at the rental property in some way such as failing to eradicate rodents or other pests or in some other way.
  • Your landlord has caused you to suffer extreme emotional distress either intentionally, or negligently.
  • Your landlord has wrongfully evicted you due to violations of Civil Code section 789.3.
  • Your landlord has constructively evicted you due to intolerable living conditions.
  • Your landlord is liable for damages for uncured building violations under Civil Code section 1942.
For wrongfully evicting you due to violations of Civil Code section 789.3 your landlord could be liable for:

 

  • Statutory damages of up to $100 per day or part of a day (but not less than $250) that the landlord is in violation of the law,
  • Reasonable attorney’s fees and court costs if you are represented by an attorney and win your case.

Statutory authorization for damages for wrongful eviction in California.

One of the statutory authorizations for the damages that a tenant can recover for a wrongful eviction in California is found in Civil Code section 789.3. I want to stress that Civil Code section 789.3 does not apply to commercial tenants.

If a landlord repeatedly violates Civil Code section 789.3 each individual violation may be considered as a separate cause of action with a separate award of statutory damages in some cases.

A tenant can also seek injunctive relief to prevent any continuing or further violations of Civil Code section 789.3. And section 789.3 also states that the remedies provided are not exclusive and do not prevent a tenant from pursuing any other remedy to which they may be legally entitled.

Civil Code § 789.3 states that,

“(a) A landlord shall not with intent to terminate the occupancy under any lease or other tenancy or estate at will, however created, of property used by a tenant as his residence willfully cause, directly or indirectly, the interruption or termination of any utility service furnished the tenant, including, but not limited to, water, heat, light, electricity, gas, telephone, elevator, or refrigeration, whether or not the utility service is under the control of the landlord.

(b) In addition, a landlord shall not, with intent to terminate the occupancy under any lease or other tenancy or estate at will, however created, of property used by a tenant as his or her residence, willfully:

(1) Prevent the tenant from gaining reasonable access to the property by changing the locks or using a bootlock or by any other similar method or device;

(2) Remove outside doors or windows; or

(3) Remove from the premises the tenant’s personal property, the furnishings, or any other items without the prior written consent of the tenant, except when done pursuant to the procedure set forth in Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 1980) of Title 5 of Part 4 of Division 3.

Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to prevent the lawful eviction of a tenant by appropriate legal authorities, nor shall anything in this subdivision apply to occupancies defined by subdivision (b) of Section 1940.

(c) Any landlord who violates this section shall be liable to the tenant in a civil action for all of the following:

(1) Actual damages of the tenant.

2) An amount not to exceed one hundred dollars ($100) for each day or part thereof the landlord remains in violation of this section. In determining the amount of such award, the court shall consider proof of such matters as justice may require; however, in no event shall less than two hundred fifty dollars ($250) be awarded for each separate cause of action. Subsequent or repeated violations, which are not committed contemporaneously with the initial violation, shall be treated as separate causes of action and shall be subject to a separate award of damages.

(d) In any action under subdivision (c) the court shall award reasonable attorney’s fees to the prevailing party. In any such action the tenant may seek appropriate injunctive relief to prevent continuing or further violation of the provisions of this section during the pendency of the action. The remedy provided by this section is not exclusive and shall not preclude the tenant from pursuing any other remedy which the tenant may have under any other provision of law.”

Sample complaint for suing your landlord in California for sale.

Attorneys or parties in California that wish to view a portion of a 14 page sample complaint against a landlord in California for wrongful eviction under Civil Code section 789.3 as well as eight other causes of action sold by the author can see below.

Sample California Complaint Against Landlord by Stan Burman on Scribd

 

Over 300 sample legal documents for California and Federal litigation for sale.

To view more information on over 300 sample legal documents for California and Federal litigation visit: https://legaldocspro.myshopify.com/products

The author of this blog post, Stan Burman, is an entrepreneur and retired litigation paralegal that worked in California and Federal litigation from January 1995 through September 2017 and has created over 300 sample legal documents for sale.

Do you want to use this article on your website, blog or e-zine? You can, as long as you include this blurb with it: “Stan Burman is the author of over 300 sample legal documents for California and Federal litigation and is the author of a free weekly legal newsletter. You can receive 10 free gifts just for subscribing. Just visit http://freeweeklylegalnewsletter.gr8.com/  for more information.

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DISCLAIMER:

Please note that the author of this blog post, Stan Burman is NOT an attorney and as such is unable to provide any specific legal advice. The author is NOT engaged in providing any legal, financial, or other professional services, and any information contained in this blog post is NOT intended to constitute legal advice.

The materials and information contained in this blog post have been prepared by Stan Burman for informational purposes only and are not legal advice. Transmission of the information contained in this blog post is not intended to create, and receipt does not constitute, any business relationship between the author and any readers. Readers should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel.

 

 

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