- Jurisdiction
- California
Hi my name is Katie.
I am a tenant with a big question. Yesterday my property manager served me a notice that states; Termination of lease: uninhabitable premises. Due to recent flooding and water intrusion and mold. (This is not a recent thing, the conditions have been the same since January.. but I will explain that part in a bit)
They have given me three days to vacate the property.
This left me in shock and wondering if this is legal for them to do.
I would like to give a little background info now. I moved into this place in December. Upon move in we found that the toilet leaked water onto the floor every time you flush, we also found water damage and mold on the bathroom vanity. We told the property manager and offered a cheap solution to fix everything, they agreed and we fixed the toilet, put in a new vanity and got rid of the mold and also replaced the water damaged flooring. All for only $200 off of rent.
Next we found that the shower tiles were in really bad shape.., sinking into the wall, no grout in areas, very obvious signs of rot and water damage. And then on top of that in early January the spare bedroom had a water issue, the rain water was coming in under the ground and the carpet had been completely soaked in multiple areas totaling around 40 square feet. As well as a small corner in our room with water and also the closet as well. We pulled back the carpet to find that the tack strips were completely rotted and black. It smelt moldy and terrible. The property manager came over to look at things and decided the solution was to put big huge fans in and dry out the carpets and also see where the water was coming from outside. They put sandbags around the outside area to try and prevent water from getting in until a contractor could come look at things. They also looked at the shower and agreed it needed to be fixed. Luckily my father in law is a tile and granite contractor so he gave them a really good deal and re did the whole shower (finding as expected tons of mold and rot behind the tiles, they had to replace a lot of wood and re seal everything, it was in bad shape) so now it's February, the carpets are dried out, now my property manager wants to put the carpet back so that I can use the room again and they don't have to give me a $200 credit again like they did in January because the room was not usable. BUT there are still moldy tack strips and water is still coming in when it rains heavy.. so I said no, why would we put the carpets back on top of mold and just to get we again? So they didn't do anything. February passed (no credit for a not usable room) and nothing has changed except plans have been made to remedy the outside drains and take out a tree and fix the water issues outside. The inside is still very moist and cold all of the time (did I mention this unit is a basement unit in a duplex house) I've been trying to keep things dry and even bought air purifiers for the house to keep the air healthy. Our bedroom has not really been addressed and a few mold issues have come up that we have been trying to keep at bay, window seals, trim and on and around the door, corner still getting water coming in.. so I brought this to their attention again and asked what we should do. How do we fix the situation inside as well and not just do work on the outside of the house. This was an in person meeting that did not result in any resolution other than the fact that my property manager bought us mold spray to use in the bedrooms, and a few masks to wear while cleaning it up.
So I sent an email, asking them to address these issues inside the home. Asking them to check the mold, see how bad it actually is... telling them that technically we should not have to live here while they do this. That the carpets need to be checked and cleaned for mold. And moisture needs to no longer be an issue. I gave hem the option of us leaving to stay with family while this is happening or if they would rather put us up in a hotel and we will continue to pay rent and then resume our lease once everything is fixed and healthy. Or lastly that we could just break our lease and get our money back. I asked for all of the money back that we have paid (3 months) and our security deposit. Because we have been living in these conditions with no resolution for so long. Because we have done nothing but add value to their property (I re painted every wall, updated the bathroom, added wood floors in the kitchen, new kitchen faucet, the list goes on) our health has been at risk this whole time and they were not taking the issues seriously. I asked for a response and hopes that we could come to an agreement somewhere and work this all out. I told them that I did not want to break my lease, I only want things to be looked at and taken seriously. I wanted things fixed, and instead two days later I received an eviction notice saying that this place is uninhabitable and we need to leave.
Is it legal for them to not try and fix any of these issues? Is it legal for them to say no to fixing these things and instead just kick us out? In three days? That seems like not an adequate amount of time for a move out.
Also if they are admitting to this unit being uninhabitable, then it has been uninhabitable since day one of move in... nothing has changed since we found the water and mold in January. If anything we have made this place more inhabitable by fixing all of the mold and damage in the bathroom.
I just don't get it. I need to know my rights as a tenant. I feel like they have taken away everything from me and are kicking me out because I brought attention to things that need to be fixed.
I have a terrible feeling that they are not going to fix anything once I am gone and get some other poor tenant in here with no idea of the situation.
Sorry for the huge long explanation. I didn't want to leave anything out.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
(I only have two days left to vacate the property)
So I'm desperate.
Thanks
I am a tenant with a big question. Yesterday my property manager served me a notice that states; Termination of lease: uninhabitable premises. Due to recent flooding and water intrusion and mold. (This is not a recent thing, the conditions have been the same since January.. but I will explain that part in a bit)
They have given me three days to vacate the property.
This left me in shock and wondering if this is legal for them to do.
I would like to give a little background info now. I moved into this place in December. Upon move in we found that the toilet leaked water onto the floor every time you flush, we also found water damage and mold on the bathroom vanity. We told the property manager and offered a cheap solution to fix everything, they agreed and we fixed the toilet, put in a new vanity and got rid of the mold and also replaced the water damaged flooring. All for only $200 off of rent.
Next we found that the shower tiles were in really bad shape.., sinking into the wall, no grout in areas, very obvious signs of rot and water damage. And then on top of that in early January the spare bedroom had a water issue, the rain water was coming in under the ground and the carpet had been completely soaked in multiple areas totaling around 40 square feet. As well as a small corner in our room with water and also the closet as well. We pulled back the carpet to find that the tack strips were completely rotted and black. It smelt moldy and terrible. The property manager came over to look at things and decided the solution was to put big huge fans in and dry out the carpets and also see where the water was coming from outside. They put sandbags around the outside area to try and prevent water from getting in until a contractor could come look at things. They also looked at the shower and agreed it needed to be fixed. Luckily my father in law is a tile and granite contractor so he gave them a really good deal and re did the whole shower (finding as expected tons of mold and rot behind the tiles, they had to replace a lot of wood and re seal everything, it was in bad shape) so now it's February, the carpets are dried out, now my property manager wants to put the carpet back so that I can use the room again and they don't have to give me a $200 credit again like they did in January because the room was not usable. BUT there are still moldy tack strips and water is still coming in when it rains heavy.. so I said no, why would we put the carpets back on top of mold and just to get we again? So they didn't do anything. February passed (no credit for a not usable room) and nothing has changed except plans have been made to remedy the outside drains and take out a tree and fix the water issues outside. The inside is still very moist and cold all of the time (did I mention this unit is a basement unit in a duplex house) I've been trying to keep things dry and even bought air purifiers for the house to keep the air healthy. Our bedroom has not really been addressed and a few mold issues have come up that we have been trying to keep at bay, window seals, trim and on and around the door, corner still getting water coming in.. so I brought this to their attention again and asked what we should do. How do we fix the situation inside as well and not just do work on the outside of the house. This was an in person meeting that did not result in any resolution other than the fact that my property manager bought us mold spray to use in the bedrooms, and a few masks to wear while cleaning it up.
So I sent an email, asking them to address these issues inside the home. Asking them to check the mold, see how bad it actually is... telling them that technically we should not have to live here while they do this. That the carpets need to be checked and cleaned for mold. And moisture needs to no longer be an issue. I gave hem the option of us leaving to stay with family while this is happening or if they would rather put us up in a hotel and we will continue to pay rent and then resume our lease once everything is fixed and healthy. Or lastly that we could just break our lease and get our money back. I asked for all of the money back that we have paid (3 months) and our security deposit. Because we have been living in these conditions with no resolution for so long. Because we have done nothing but add value to their property (I re painted every wall, updated the bathroom, added wood floors in the kitchen, new kitchen faucet, the list goes on) our health has been at risk this whole time and they were not taking the issues seriously. I asked for a response and hopes that we could come to an agreement somewhere and work this all out. I told them that I did not want to break my lease, I only want things to be looked at and taken seriously. I wanted things fixed, and instead two days later I received an eviction notice saying that this place is uninhabitable and we need to leave.
Is it legal for them to not try and fix any of these issues? Is it legal for them to say no to fixing these things and instead just kick us out? In three days? That seems like not an adequate amount of time for a move out.
Also if they are admitting to this unit being uninhabitable, then it has been uninhabitable since day one of move in... nothing has changed since we found the water and mold in January. If anything we have made this place more inhabitable by fixing all of the mold and damage in the bathroom.
I just don't get it. I need to know my rights as a tenant. I feel like they have taken away everything from me and are kicking me out because I brought attention to things that need to be fixed.
I have a terrible feeling that they are not going to fix anything once I am gone and get some other poor tenant in here with no idea of the situation.
Sorry for the huge long explanation. I didn't want to leave anything out.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
(I only have two days left to vacate the property)
So I'm desperate.
Thanks
