My question involves an eviction in the state of: California
I moved into a home with a lady (the landlord) and her two children in their 20's on March 30th. She recieved rent and deposit money that day and a signed lease from me. The second night I was there, I found a bed bug in the bed they provided and reported this to my landlord.
I came home the next day and the landlord told me that she didn't think me living there was going to work. I said I understood and that I was sorry it isn't working. She told me she was bringing a fumigator the next morning and everyone would leave the house for 5 days. She told me that means I would need to leave her home that night. (She later admits that she doesn't believe me and isn't really fumigating)
I told her repeatedly it was unreasonable for her to expect me to leave in a week, but she said I had to leave that night. I explained that she can't make me leave, due to the lease we have, and that I had already given her a cashier's check and $300 for rent and deposit.
I started trying to contact some friends and hotels to possibly make arrangements, and she kept saying she would help me with my stuff, while she and one of her friends stood in my room. Then she repeatedly told her son to help me move out, but he seemed embarrassed and did not get involved. I told her to please not help me or touch my stuff and she grabbed some of my bags and took them to the front door. She continued harassing me, by now it was midnight, asking "when are you going to leave? When are you going to leave?"
She told me "I can do this the easy way, or the hard way." I said I didn't know what she meant, she said " you don't want to find out.
I decided at that point that I wasn't going to take any chances and began to pack my things. I got everything together and she grabbed the cashier's check and $300 I gave her for a deposit and said "here- now our lease is over." I told her that I wasn't agreeing to end the lease. I took the check and cash from her, because that was probably 90% of the money I had at the moment, and didn't think I could afford a hotel without it.
Since then, I have found a hotel to stay in.
My questions are- did she perform a "self-help eviction"? How can I prove this?
Is it a bad idea for me to cancel the cashier's check? Am I agreeing to the eviction effectively by doing this?
I feel I would represent myself well and be prepared to take her to small claims court, but would it be a better idea, and still cost effective to hire a lawyer to handle this?
Thanks!

