Lisa

City: 
Lake Elsinore
Residence Type: 
3 or 4 units
Landlord Type: 
Private Landlord -- No Rent Control

A notice of foreclosure was placed on the front fence of the apartment complex in March. The landlord had already stopped responding to phone calls and requests for repairs etc. Three apartments were occupied at that time, the fourth was uninhabitable. We had no idea up to that point that anything was wrong. As a group, we immediately stopped paying rent. We were afraid that since the property was in foreclosure that we would need the money to obtain new housing. I note here that all tenants are low-income. Naturally, the landlord began calling right away. We explained to him our position and got an "it's none of your business" response. We were all served with 3 day notices, after which the landlord contacted each of us individually and tried to ammend the notice. (In my case he told me to pay 1 months rent by the following week and keep people from squatting in the empty apartment (a problem that had occurred when the foreclosure notice was posted) for which he would knock $50.00 off what was owed. I told him that I did not have the funds to do that but that I would try to get some help with the situation. After consulting with a friend with solid local business contacts...a foreclosure expert and a real estate lawyer among them...I concluded that continuing to pay the rent to this person was not in my family's best interest. On April 30th two of the families here were served with eviction papers. The 3rd family has never been served although they insist they have not paid any rent since March either. They also state that he never took any of their personal information when he rented the apartment to them...sounds kinda fishy doesn't it? The man who served my family, came twice...once at 9:30 in the morning then again at 8:00 at night the second time he demanded to talk to everyone in the house and refused to leave, threatened to return at 5:00 A.M. if I didn't comply with his demands for information...I finally had to call the sheriff to get him to leave. The other tenant and I have responded to the eviction...she has a court date set for tomorrow...I have as yet not received one. My main concern at this point (aside from being displaced) is whether we will be able to rent again with an eviction action on the record. Getting any real assistance here in California has been a joke (but not a funny one). I am disabled, poor and without transportation to pursue any of the legal actions required...legal workshops etc. Does anyone have any suggestions?

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