Serving a 3day pay or quit

[Ignorantwithlaw]

California----Here is the back story--- I currently rent a home where the landlord refuses to make repairs that affect habitability. We have been told not to repair and deduct (by landlord) claiming they can't afford the risk off repairs being higher priced. We have even been shown that they already have materials for the repairs. We have lived in the rental since May 10th and no repairs made. He have threatened to contact code enforcement and then we're begged not to and told the reason not to call is because the landlord and wife are both on SSI and that they are not supposed to have additional property. (They are doing aren't to own from the legal homeowner.)On July 30th we then told the landlord that we were not going to pay anymore rent until the repairs were made by September 1st. At this point, their adult daughter who resided with them started withholding our mail ( mailboxes are on the main road , lined all together). 13 days after the mailing dates of our electric bill, our electricity gets shut off and about an hour later the landlords daughter hands is our shut off notice. We contacted the electric company and they demanded a $250 security deposit on top of the bill in order to restore service. We have been running off of a generator ever since because we can't afford an addition $250. We informed the landlord of the situation and he just shrugged and said "she shouldn't have done that, but I can't do anything about it. 30 days passed without any repairs done, so we did not pay September rent. Still nothing is done. The landlord texted yesterday saying that we would be served a 3 day pay or quit. So I have 2 questions.

1) Who needs to serve us? The legal owner or the landlord?

2) If we are not home (we rarely are since it's unbearable with no electricity, no flooring and no sink) and they have to pay and mail, is it considered posting if they post it on a chain link fence in a high wind area (the winds average 15-20 mph about 16 hours per day)?

We have signed rent receipts from them, but then they state that they will have the legal homeowner file an eviction if we do not pay rent.

We would move however the community we live in quite literally has no rentals since the fire came through last year and burned down 285 homes.

 

[justalayman]

The entity you signed a lease with is whom must file an eviction suit. Anybody they authorize to deliver the pay or quit notice is acceptable.

Why didn’t you contact the USPS when you discovered the girl had taken your mail? It is a crime.

Why you have let this go on this long is beyond me.

Anyway, if the house is not habitable, it doesn’t really matter about anything else. The health department can condemn the house and you move out anyway. I’m not really clear what your objective here is.


http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/landlordbook/terminations.shtml

A landlord can serve a three-day notice on the tenant in one of three ways: by personal service, by substituted service, or by posting and mailing. The landlord, the landlord's agent, or anyone over 18 can serve a notice on a tenant.
Personal service - To serve you personally, the person serving the notice must hand you the notice (or leave it with you if you refuse to take it).290 The three-day period begins the day after you receive the notice.
Substituted service on another person -If the landlord can't find you at home, the landlord should try to serve you personally at work. If the landlord can't find you at home or at work, the landlord can use "substituted service" instead of serving you personally.

To comply with the rules on substituted service, the person serving the notice must leave the notice with a person of "suitable age and discretion" at your home or work and also mail a copy of the notice to you at home.291 A person of suitable age and discretion normally would be an adult at your home or workplace, or a teenage member of your household.

Service of the notice is legally complete when both of these steps have been completed. The three-day period begins the day after both steps have been completed.
Posting and mailing - If the landlord can't serve the notice on you personally or by substituted service, the notice can be served by taping or tacking a copy to the rental unit in a conspicuous place (such as the front door of the rental unit) and by mailing another copy to you at the rental unit's address.292 (This service method is commonly called "posting and mailing" or "nailing and mailing.")

Service of the notice is not complete until the copy of the notice has been mailed. The three-day period begins the day after the notice was posted and mailed.293

 

[LdiJ]

California----Here is the back story--- I currently rent a home where the landlord refuses to make repairs that affect habitability. We have been told not to repair and deduct (by landlord) claiming they can't afford the risk off repairs being higher priced. We have even been shown that they already have materials for the repairs. We have lived in the rental since May 10th and no repairs made. He have threatened to contact code enforcement and then we're begged not to and told the reason not to call is because the landlord and wife are both on SSI and that they are not supposed to have additional property. (They are doing aren't to own from the legal homeowner.)On July 30th we then told the landlord that we were not going to pay anymore rent until the repairs were made by September 1st. At this point, their adult daughter who resided with them started withholding our mail ( mailboxes are on the main road , lined all together). 13 days after the mailing dates of our electric bill, our electricity gets shut off and about an hour later the landlords daughter hands is our shut off notice. We contacted the electric company and they demanded a $250 security deposit on top of the bill in order to restore service. We have been running off of a generator ever since because we can't afford an addition $250. We informed the landlord of the situation and he just shrugged and said "she shouldn't have done that, but I can't do anything about it. 30 days passed without any repairs done, so we did not pay September rent. Still nothing is done. The landlord texted yesterday saying that we would be served a 3 day pay or quit. So I have 2 questions.

1) Who needs to serve us? The legal owner or the landlord?

2) If we are not home (we rarely are since it's unbearable with no electricity, no flooring and no sink) and they have to pay and mail, is it considered posting if they post it on a chain link fence in a high wind area (the winds average 15-20 mph about 16 hours per day)?

We have signed rent receipts from them, but then they state that they will have the legal homeowner file an eviction if we do not pay rent.

We would move however the community we live in quite literally has no rentals since the fire came through last year and burned down 285 homes.

If they are both on SSI that means that between the two of them they have less than 1900.00 of monthly income and if they are buying the house on a rent to own basis and cannot make the payment to the seller, they will get evicted which will cause you to be evicted. With that little income they obviously will never have the money to make the necessary repairs...and you should NOT put any money into the house yourself because you will end up evited as well.

You are simply in a no win situation and need to find somewhere else to live ASAP. Calling code enforcement will just get the house condemned anyway.

 

[HRZ]

I sort of agree you are in a no win situation to put a dime into this disaster .and I have no idea why you might want to live there can..but that's your call.....but if you want to fight it out...well tenants are not any too easy to evict IF they study the rules and play hardball. I was a LL for decades but not in CA ....an amateur LL who barely knows any rules with dirty hands and a place with undone repairs on safety and habitability issues does NOT stand a chance against a tenant who knows the rules and follows them. but you need to read and use the rules

1. I do not know how you could prove the daughter was tampering with US Mail ...but if you could, I'd be in contact with USPostal investigators pronto...it's a big time crime to tamper with mail! ANd generally speaking a LL is responsible for the mis deeds of his agent , his daughter ...if you can probe her mail tampering .

2 Look up and study carefully rent withholding in CA ..if there are serious habitability issues look to play that card ...pronto....it may be a valid defense to 3 day eviction. I think it's a critical card to play ASAP. MBy the rules!

3. WHatever the rules are about 3 day service are, the LL must get it right ...post back later when you get it.

4 3 day service is the start of process , not the end....and you are entitled to your day in court ...if there are serious habitability issues and you have played by the rules to,withhold rent, your LL may find himself up.a creek to evict you until and unless the serious repairs are made . ( You might need to pony up deposit to get electric restored so you are not impacting habitability ). Your LLs song and dance about not being able to afford repairs is not a winning excuse .

5 I don't know the nature of the owners deal with your LL , but my guess is this LL will be between a rock and a hard place if you play hardball and properly withhold rents awaiting repairs

6 Your comment about LL will have owner seek to evict you suggests LL does not know the rules ...but no excuse for,you to relax...do all the proper steps (written not oral) to withhold rents .

 

[Ignorantwithlaw]

Trust me, in no way what so ever do I actually WANT to reside here. Unfortunately, 285 homes in our community burned down last summer. The area was already a large majority of elderly and very few rental available. Once the fire came through, homeowners began price gouging. It took us 11 months of living in a dry rotted 19ft travel trailer with our 3 teenagers and 2 large dogs to even find this place.

 

[LdiJ]

Trust me, in no way what so ever do I actually WANT to reside here. Unfortunately, 285 homes in our community burned down last summer. The area was already a large majority of elderly and very few rental available. Once the fire came through, homeowners began price gouging. It took us 11 months of living in a dry rotted 19ft travel trailer with our 3 teenagers and 2 large dogs to even find this place.

Again, in my opinion there is nothing that you can do to make the owners fix the problems because they just don't have the money...and are never going to have the money.

You should NOT sink any money into the property because its going to get taken from THEM, by the seller because without your rent they won't be able to make their payments on the house. If it gets taken from them it will get taken from you as well.

If you call code enforcement it will get condemned and you will have to move out anyway.

To me, its a no win situation.

The only other thing that I can think of, is if you do some research and find out who the actual owner/seller of the property is, and try to make some kind of deal with them after they take it back from your landlord, but its unlikely that the owner/seller would fix it either.

 

[Ignorantwithlaw]

Again, in my opinion there is nothing that you can do to make the owners fix the problems because they just don't have the money...and are never going to have the money.

You should NOT sink any money into the property because its going to get taken from THEM, by the seller because without your rent they won't be able to make their payments on the house. If it gets taken from them it will get taken from you as well.

If you call code enforcement it will get condemned and you will have to move out anyway.

To me, its a no win situation.

The only other thing that I can think of, is if you do some research and find out who the actual owner/seller of the property is, and try to make some kind of deal with them after they take it back from your landlord, but its unlikely that the owner/seller would fix it either.

How would I go about finding out who the owner is?

 

[LdiJ]

How would I go about finding out who the owner is?

You could check the property tax records.