My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: Ca
My father and i have been living and taking care of my mother in her home for the last 2 years,she is now in assisted living,my brother was appointed as conservator,as a conservator he has all of the legal responsibilities of a landlord,he wanted my father and i to start paying rent,and also all utilities.he wanted us to start paying rent in january,i requested for him to draw up a rental or lease agreement for a monthly amount within 30 days and send us copies of utility bills so we know how much to pay each month.also made him aware that he's not only a conservator but now a landlord.aslo informed him there is presence of mold in bathroom and kitchen.i requested him to come and inspect the mold or send a health inspector out within 30 days.
he made no effort to draw up a rental or lease agreement in 30 days,and no concern or effort to come here and look at the mold,there is hardly and cold water in whole house,bathroom floor has major water damage and rot.february we sent him a check for 500.00 in good faith towards rent for the month of febuary and informed him that it would be reasonable to withhold any further rent until you draw a proper rental or lease agreementso we can all agree on a monthly rent and withold payment on any utility bills until you send us copies of the bills we need to pay or include utility bills in rent.
my brother gave us a 30 day notice after he accepted a check for rent,
he filed an unlawful detainer,my dad recieved the notice(the notice had my fathers name and my name on it)i was unable to respond to the notice because i was in custody for 35 days,my brother knew i was in custody and i can prove that.so i was not able to respond to the unlawful detainer.my question is doesnt he have to serve each tennant with a unlawful detainer?one for me and one for my father,and isnt he responsible to serve me the unlawful detainer when he knew i was in custody?when we went to court the judge said that i couldn't speak because i was in default because i did not respond to the detainer within the time period.i informed him that i was in custody,my question is due to me being in custody and was unable to respond i fell its totally unfair for me not being able to fight the detainer.
while my dad was able to proceed the judge refused to accept two copies of the letters i wrote to my brother the landlord,the letters were my proof of the requests i made about the rental agreement,the mold,other issues in need of repair etc...the follow up letter i mailed to my brother also was denied,
my brother has all legal responsibilities of landlord,he has violated the following:
California Civil Code 1962—Landlord’s Responsibility to Provide a Copy of Rental Agreement
Section 1941 if it substantially lacks any of the following
affirmative standard characteristics or is a residential unit
described in Section 17920.3 or 17920.10 of the Health and Safety
Code:
the thing is that my mom owned this house for over 50 years,i moved out when i was 17 and hardly seen my mom until recently in the last few years,me and my brother dont speak,my mom developed a memory problem and she continuosly told me how much she missed me and loves me that weve been apart for so long she wants to be close again,she wanted me to come live with her and i did also it was important that i be there to help her out,also my father came to help take care of her,so when my brother became aware of this it made him angry that me and dad were there,he called social services several times stating we were abusing her,they came several times but there was no abuse going on.he has called the police several times saying theres elder abuse going on,police found no such thing.he has done everything he can to have me and dad thrown out.he filed for conservator and was granted when neither mom or i was there,he lied about a rescheduled court date so i missed and mom was in therapy.mom was in no way incompetent and the only reason he filed for conservatorship was to have the ability to get me and dad outta this house.
my most important question what can i do?my brother failed in his responsibilitys as landlord and the judge would not accept the copies i sent to my brother as proof in our defense.i need help.thank you

