My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: California (San Diego County)
Sorry if this is long-winded, but it should be a good read.
I moved in with my "friend" and another buddy about 1 year ago. My "friend" is the landlord, as it is his home, and I pay rent to him (rent is always on time). He has always been a "slum-lord", rents out dirty rooms, in a poorly maintained house. When previous tenants have complained, he would often threaten them with immediate removal from the residence, and threaten to take their property. Since we were all friends, me and my buddy never complained to our landlord about the sub-par conditions, or tried to reason with him. Mold in the kitchen under the cabinets/walls, no hot water/heater/dryer when he wouldn't get the propane filled, trash and filth in his "compost" pile out the backdoor, no trash service, and general disarray. We've always understood that this is just the way he is (he's bi-polar) and it never really bothered us (me and my other buddy) until now.
The rental is a month to month, and is verbal with nothing in writing. Our last roommate gave a 30-day notice to the landlord, which he accepted. She paid the nexts months rent in advance, along with previous months utilities. When it was mid-way through the month, my landlord started telling me about things he thought our roommate stole. He would say that he was going to do things to her property, or take some of her possessions. When he would do this, I would alert her to his intentions, and she would be able to take action to mitigate damage. She began to move out her property and high value items. On a day when she wasn't home, he entered her room, observed minimal property (though she still had electronics, other valubles, bed, clothes) and declared that she had moved out. He immediately began taking her stuff, saying that it would off-set the cost of utilities he was owed, and began moving his stuff into the room. I called her to let her know what was going on, and she immediately rushed home. When she arrived, the door was barricaded. He would not open the door for her and demanded that we not open the door. He spoke to her through the door, demanding $150 to be let in. After some back and forth, he lowered the ammount to $75 for entry. She refused and said she was calling the police (which she did). Me and my buddy attempted to talk him down inside the house, but he was in a manic state, and was not being reasonable or rational. We didn't know what was going to happen when the police arrived, so we went over to the neibhors, while the landlord turned off the lights and went upstairs.
The sherrif arrived, and a statement was taken. She was advised that they cannot help her gain access to the house, but they can escort her in to get her stuff if she can get in. They left. This whole event is making my blood boil, simply because I cannot believe the way thiis guy treats people, or thinks that he has a right to do these things. At the same time, I'm fearful of retaliation if I openly help her get her property from the house or let her in. I knew that the bathroom window was open, told her, she called the cops back, they came, she entered through the window and let them in. She was able to get her stuff that night, and didn't return (despite having 7 days left on the month-month). She didn't return because the guy's crazy, unstable, and shady. She also didn't feel safe.
So now we're back to 3 of us living there, me, my friend, and the landlord. I have been working on moving out for about 3 months, and finaly found a place to move in December. We had an tentative agreement (verbal) that I would move out on November 5th. On Sunday, Oct 27, I asked him if he would like to renew, allowing me to stay through November until Dec 5th. I even offered to pre-pay an extra $100 in rent for that month, and to cover the utililities that would be due Dec 1st. I made him this offer because he's unemployed (his fault), he's my "friend", and because he was complaining about all of his bills that he has. I thought it would help him out immediately, and I like helping people, so I went to get him the full ammount that night.
Upon returning from the store/ATM, I approached him on the couch where he was lazing, and asked him if he wanted to do the deal. I showed him the cash, telling him I'd trade the fat stack for a $5 bill, since the ammount I had was $5 over what I owed. He said he may have $5 upstairs in his pockets, and he'll grab it in a minute, but ended up just falling asleep. I decided to call it a night myself, since it was late and I had to work in the morning.
I went to work that day and returned to the house. He was home, so I went upstairs to get the cash and negotiate the deal. I brought the cash down and again told him I'd trade the fat stack for a $5 bill. As soon as I said "fat stack", it clicked in my head, the stack was no longer "fat". $380 of the $680 was gone. I went upstairs to make sure that I didn't leave some behind, I didn't and went back down. I told him that I thought he took the money, which I 100% believe he did. There was no break in, nothing else was taken, and the spare key to my room is gone. The only thing that was taken was money from the wad of cash that only he and I knew I had. Of course, he denies it. This part was dumb of me, and I wish I didn't do it. I gave him the other $300 as a partial payment, which he accepted, despite me knowing that he stole the other $380. From some of the things he was saying, I thought it would "turn up" the next day when he put it back. No dice.
So now I'm in a situation. I'm fearful of what this guy is doing to or with my property in his house, or if I'm going to be the next victim of his illegal lock-outs. I'm also worried that he is going to harm my dogs while I'm at work, and not there to protect them. I'm not physically afraid of him at this point, but I am worried about my dogs and property.
I don't know exactly what to do. I am going to move my most valuble stuff to a self-storage tonight, but I'm not sure what else to do right away. I'm 100% entitled to stay there until the 5th of Nov, but I don't know what to do after the 5th, since he accepted partial payment to stay thru Dec 5th (even though he really got it all). Looking back, I wish I never gave him the additional $300, and I could have just been gone on the 5th and slept on a buddies couch for 25 days.
Any advice or opinions will be greatly appreciated.
P.S. He has never given any tenant a written 30-day.

