Harassment

[So Confused]

I have been a tenant for over 6 years and my old landlord recently sold the property. The current landlord attempted to evict me, so I went to fair housing and they put a stop to the eviction. Now my landlord is constantly harassing my family and I. About two days ago my landlord stood outside at 1200 midnight taking pictures of my family members while we loaded furniture on back of a truck ( the furniture was placed outside after I painted it. Since it was going to rain the next day, I asked if they would pick it up). The landlord was yelling, "are you moving in or out? if you are moving in you have to pay extra." My family member became irritated by the landlord repetitive flash photography so she attempted to take the camera from my landlord. Now both my landlord and family member was wrestling over the camera, and things got ugly. I don't know what to do, I want to sue my landlord because she has made it uncomfortable for me to live here since she owned the property. I want her to pay for relocation and nothing more. It is a constant headache because my landlord lives in the front house and I live in the back house. Please help me because the harassment has gone far beyond control.

[OHlandlord]

Do you have a current lease? If so the new owner must honor the terms in the lease until it expires. If you are on a month to month agreement, the new owner can give you 30 (or 60 in some areas) days notice to vacate/move out for any or no reason.

I have to ask something. You were loading furniture in a truck at MIDNIGHT??? Isn't that a little odd? Why wouldn't you do this during daylight hours? The reason I ask is because that is exactly how many tenants abandon their rented units and break their leases. They pull up a truck after dark and move out at night. No doubt this is why it looked suspicious to your LL, why he came out to investigate and document it, and why he asked if you were moving out, or moving more people in. (Are there currently more people in your unit than your lease allows?) I'm sorry, but this would have looked suspicious to me also. As a LL, trucks pulling up loading furniture at midnight is not a good sign.

Your LL or any other person may take photos out in public. If you are outside, in a public area, or where you can be seen from a public area, you can be photographed, videotaped, etc. (but no voice recordings without your knowledge). Paparazzi use this legal right to take photos of celebrities (and make BIG bucks from it). Stores videotape their entrances, the sidewalks out front, and their parking lots. Large apartment complexes have cameras in common areas, laundries, etc. City police departments even put up cameras on the street at red lights to catch people going through them illegally. There is nothing wrong with this. Your family member had no right to touch the LL or his camera (and she could be sued over it - it is an assault). It is the LL's property. Now, he cannot take pictures or video of you inside your rented unit. That is your PRIVATE area. It is not public. But outside he can. It is legal. It would only be harassment if he was doing this on more than one occasion. One instance is not enough to prove harassment, especially when you were doing something that would appear suspicious to any LL.

Other than documenting the midnight furniture move, what else has the LL done to harass you? Have you had lease violations or been accused of them? He attempted to evict you - for what? That may or may not be considered harassment. Just because he lost doesn't necessarily indicate harassment. Your post does not list any other instances of this harassment, can you detail these please? I have a feeling that there is more to this story. Please tell the rest so we can help.

Also, you said you wanted your LL to pay relocation costs? Are you in CA?

[So Confused]

Yes I live in CA. I took my landlord to court to get a restraining order placed against her a few months back and the court assigned us a mediator. Well the mediator noticed that my landlord complained about anything, so the mediator asked me what I wanted from the landlord. I requested that she give me my privacy, leave my family members alone and to give me written notice if she plans on altering my unit. Every since the court date, she has been trying to find the way to evict me or find ways to make me move out on my own. After I talked to my LL she told me that she took pictures because I was suppose to let her know that they were coming over. It was not because she thought I was moving out (we just signed a new lease in December), she really had no reason. The furniture I moved from my backyard was for a child-I live in a one bedroom house, all the furniture in my house is fit for an adult. The ONLY reason why we were moving furniture at mid-night was because my cousin got home late and I did not want the furniture to get wet in the rain. For other instances, she has taken pictures and video recorded me walking down our street, or when she see my relatives visit me.

Since my landlord first language is not English, she thinks everything I do is wrong.
My LL cursed me out for using the out door water on my private garden, for inviting people over that she does not know, and if she thinks that I am doing something that the lease says otherwise. It has gotten out of control. She wants to move her mother and son into the unit I live in...understandable. Once she found out that she had to pay a relocation fee, she decided to keep me as a tenant. Now she is trying to run me out for any reason. I am frustrated, I maintain my unit, pay the rent on time, clan the yard, and mind my own business-I am not a bad tenant. I am just caught between an annoying landlord. It is hard to to live in peace because she lives in front of me.

[OHlandlord]

Even those tenants who have just signed a lease often try to skip out at night. (I had one skip out in the first month after she signed, less than 3 weeks later!) So I'd give her the benefit of the doubt on the furniture moving. At midnight, she may not have seen that the furniture was child-sized. It does look suspicious, moving furniture at midnight, you have to admit.

What reasons has she used to try to evict you? Has she given you any written notices of lease violation? Given you a Pay or Quit or a Perform or Quit notice? What alterations were planned for your unit? She has a right to confront you when you do something contrary to the lease clauses. That is her job as the LL. Is she paying for the water bill and that is why she doesn't want you to use the outside spigot? Why does she object to family visiting you? Are there a large number of people coming and going from your unit?

I see the eviction case & RO case only went to mediation. I take it she did not get her eviction and you did not get your restraining order? It is very difficult to get a restaining order on someone with whom you must do business with. How could you pay rent or how could she communicate that you were in violation of the lease if you were prohibited from contact? Nearly impossible to do.

I suggest you cease all verbal communications with your LL. (Stop talking to her.) Send any communications to her in writing. Keep copies of any letters you send. Let her leave her messages on your answering machine. This way you have distanced yourself from her and have a record of anything you send her. It is hard to prove harassment by the LL. She has a right to protect her property, so she needs to maintain contact with you. Is she entering your unit frequently? If it continues and it becomes too difficult, you may want to start looking for another place to live and ask the LL if she would allow you out of your lease without penalty. I know you probably don't want to move, but proving harassment will be difficult. Until then, start keeping a log of all your encounters with her to start documenting any harassment. Good luck.

[So Confused]

I have been keeping up with all the paper trail on my landlord since the first day she move onto the premises, and she found that out when I took her to court. Now she is trying to build a case to evict me. As far as visitors, I do not keep a mass amount of visitors in and out my house. In most cases I am at work, but it is when I get home that she completely go nuts.

However, Thank you so much for your time and if anything else arise I will seek more help from you.

Happy New Year.

[So Confused]

Oh I apologize...The answer to your questions is:

The reason why she tried to evict me was to move in her mother and son into my unit.
She has not gave me a written notice for any violations of the lease because I never violated the lease. Nor any Pay or Quit, Perform or Quit notice.
As far as alteration, I was speaking of yard work that comes out of no where when I have visitors.
The water deal, it is included into the rent.
I have ceased all verbal communications with my landlord after that ordeal.

But, I will continue to keep our communications in black & white.

Thank you again and Happy New Year.

[OHlandlord]

She didn't use moving her mother & son into the property as the reason to file an eviction case. That would never fly. What did she list on the paperwork as her reason?

If people are coming into your home when you are not even home, she may have cause to be worried. You should not have visitors entering the residence if you are not there. They would have to have their own key (a sign of their occupancy). If this is happening, stop it immediately. Have your friends & family come over only when you are there to open the door for them and invite them in. (Being able to invite themselves in is a sign of extra occupants.)

If the water is included in the rent, stop watering outside. You are increasing the utility amount that she pays for and it will only cause problems. Use the water from the dishes or washer rinse cycle to water your garden. This uses no extra water and does not increase the bill (and it is good for the environment).

Good luck and I hope it all works out.