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  1. #1
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    Apr 2017
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    Default What to Do if Your Landlord Won't Repair a Rental or Remove Mold

    My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: California.

    I need immediate advice regarding my best options in this situation. I have rented a mobile home for 10 months now, and the landlord still has NOT fixed the windows (they will not close all the way) causing me to freeze this winter in 20-degree weather, and pay high electric bills for space heaters.

    Additionally, there are leaks in the roof, one which caused a bedroom floor to become so wet that mushrooms started growing out of the carpet. The carpet is now ripped up, I am waiting for a plumber, and there is what appears to be black MOLD all over the wood flooring that was under the carpet.

    I have also advised the landlord and asked him to spray for spiders, bugs, and cockroaches for over 9 months. My son must kill about 5 black widows per week, and there are dozens of other types of spiders and all the landlord says is "they were here first."

    He left piles of leaves and weeds from previous tenants, and is now telling me that if he gets a fire warning, he will make me pay the $500 fine.
    The screens are SCREWED into the INSIDE of the windows (that won't shut completely) so they are full of spider webs and I cannot clean them. He says it is not a problem. I cannot even unpack my boxes because I have no closets in which to put things, and he insults me each time he comes over (unannounced) by telling me I am not clean or am a "hoarder." Because the windows will not shut, you can literally feel the breezy wind throughout the entire house, and we had to sleep on our couches all winter because we could not keep the other rooms warm.

    There are also holes in the kitchen floor, near the sink, so I believe there has also been leaks there and if the tile were taken up, there is likely more mold.
    There is no mail box at the residence. The landlord will not provide one, and made me get a PO Box (the post office will not deliver mail to a home with no mail box.) It is my understanding that this is one of the violations of habitability.

    I would like to have the landlord pay for my moving expenses, (based on the fact that I have paid full rent for 10 months and he has never fixed anything, leaving 5 of the 7 rooms uninhabitable) as I do not feel he is obeying the laws and he is responsible for the repairs under the implied warranty of habitability in California. I know he will not replace the wood that has black mold growing on it, and it is almost the entire room. I don’t have any savings to rely upon to help me get out of here. He is very pushy and abrupt. It seems that, according to California law, he is violating 10 of the 15 conditions considered “uninhabitable.”

    He also never gives notice that he is coming over; he simply comes over and starts berating me in defense of not maintaining the property as he should be doing.

    Can anyone advise me or help me?

  2. #2
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    Dec 2012
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    Default Re: Unsafe Living Conditions, Including Mold, Disabled Senior Citizen Renting Mobile


  3. #3
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    Default Re: What to Do if Your Landlord Won't Repair a Rental or Remove Mold

    What happened when you reported the conditionof the premises to the unit of your local government that inspects and approves rental housing?

  4. #4
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    Apr 2017
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    Default Re: What to Do if Your Landlord Won't Repair a Rental or Remove Mold

    They told me to call back May 1st.

    Quote Quoting adjusterjack
    View Post
    Usually accompanied by "I can't afford a lawyer."

    Or "I can't afford to move."
    It seems that many just want to respond for the sake of responding, rather than responding because they are trying to help or actually answer the question put to them. I can afford an attorney, but I cannot find one that doesn't have the same attitude as "oh, since you live in a mobile home, you must be trash." Well, this area is nearly all mobile homes because its the mountains, and they still use propane tanks for heat. The town has 3,000 people in it, and I'm used to Los Angeles. I have legitimate concerns, but if you don't have legitimate answers, don't bother. What the landlord is doing is WRONG. Is this not one of the reasons to have this forum? Or is it just so all of you can feel superior to someone you do not know, have no idea of the circumstances they are in or why, and you just want to feel better about yourself? Because if that's the case, good luck, you are not succeeding.

  5. #5
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    Dec 2012
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    Default Re: What to Do if Your Landlord Won't Repair a Rental or Remove Mold

    What, exactly, do you want a forum to do for you? You were given suggestions on places to contact and items to read about in terms of your choices. You seem to have made the first move by contacting whatever local government that inspects and approves rental housing. It's unfortunate that you have chosen to live in a town with only 3000 people in it as this may mean any Code Enforcement office is quite small.

    You can also read about a tenants options in California regarding repairs here:

    http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/l...problems.shtml

    If your goal is to have the landlord pay for your moving costs it is likely you're going to have to sue for such and yes, this may mean having to hire an attorney to back you up.

  6. #6
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    Apr 2017
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    Default Re: What to Do if Your Landlord Won't Repair a Rental or Remove Mold

    Quote Quoting gail in georgia
    View Post
    What, exactly, do you want a forum to do for you? You were given suggestions on places to contact and items to read about in terms of your choices. You seem to have made the first move by contacting whatever local government that inspects and approves rental housing. It's unfortunate that you have chosen to live in a town with only 3000 people in it as this may mean any Code Enforcement office is quite small.

    You can also read about a tenants options in California regarding repairs here:

    http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/l...problems.shtml

    If your goal is to have the landlord pay for your moving costs it is likely you're going to have to sue for such and yes, this may mean having to hire an attorney to back you up.
    I don't have a problem hiring an attorney; I've not been able to speak to one yet. In case you did not notice, it has not yet been even a week since the water and mold issue.

    However, to help you understand what, exactly, I want a forum to do for me, I suggest reading the forum rules and reason for being, and you may be able to answer that for yourself. Essentially, I asked what remedies and options I have.

    Perhaps you think it selfish of me to expect a "landlord" to right his wrongs, or pay for not doing so, though I've never mentioned wanting money, but maybe if you knew that this man owns over 35 homes in the area, and a mobile home park for seniors. Now, if I am 60 years old and am being treated in the fashion he's treating me, who is going to bet that in that mobile home park filled with senior citizens, in their 70's, 80's, or older, who have absolutely no comprehension of the internet or of how to defend themselves against a slumlord, that this "landlord" is not doing the same or worse to some very nice people, who have no recourse whatsoever??

    NIMBY. I can probably guess who cannot see past their own noses.

    And Gail in Georgia: thank you for your response. Of the few I've received, yours is by far the kindest and the most helpful.

    Clearly, it seems you all need "more background" in order to offer any actual advice or at least good will. It's very sad that we've become so jaded in this world. We've got a very long way to go now to "make America great again..."

    So, not in my better judgment, I'm offering that background.

    After taking care of my mother for 6 years (due to Alzheimer's and a stroke) we decided to move from Sacramento County to Lake Isabella, CA, to allow other relatives to visit with mom before she passed away. (I had been paying a co-payment of $2,500 per month for her $7,500 per month facility following her stroke, for about 2 years, with no family members helping, but I could no longer take care of her at home.) Sadly, only 3 weeks after moving mom, she did pass away, and I and my son were left in Lake Isabella with no family support at all. As often happens, families seem to fail in their efforts to be there for a family member, and believe that when someone dies, everybody will somehow become rich from life insurance. This was not the case for me, and family members failed to keep their promises.

    For over 9 months, I have been renting a mobile home on a property, and the landlord has not fixed any of the things that were promised to be fixed. The State of California's implied warranty of habitability has 16 points that make a home habitable, 10 of which are in violation in the home I am paying rent on.

    Having exhausted my savings due to remaining co-payments and burial expenses for my mother, I have maintained an existence, but yearned to move from this property due to the landlord's lack of maintenance and poor attitude. I have provided written notice for 8 months about issues such as windows that will not close and seal properly, holes in the kitchen floor, and no mail box, preventing the post office from delivering mail to my home, causing me to rent a PO Box. We had to sleep on the couches in the living room because the temperature drops to the low 20's and the windows in the home will not close, causing 5 of the 7 rooms to be freezing during the winter.

    Last week, around April 11th, my son and I discovered mushrooms growing out of the carpet in the bedroom we use as an office. My son immediately removed all furniture and items from the room, to discover several smaller mushrooms growing, and wet carpet. I placed an immediate call to the landlord, who came over the next day and removed the majority of the carpet from the room, and found a leak under the bathroom sink that caused the problem. (The bathroom is covered with linoleum, but the wood under it is likely bad from water damage too.) There is black mold all over the wood flooring of the bedroom, now exposed and potentially a serious health hazard. I have been recovering from thyroid cancer and am afraid that this may be an issue to my health, plus nobody wants to live under these kind of conditions.

    Unfortunately, the landlord offers no solutions except that he intends to pour bleach all over the floor and, as he stated on April 18th, "bleach the sh&t out of the floor" placing a layer of wood on top, and recarpeting the room. He's not addressed the area under the sink or the bathroom floor at all.

    After many phone calls to various legal aid clinics and attorneys, as well as the County's Codes and Violations Office, I am left with no real solution. Advice has been varied, such as "move on your own," to "sue him for the money to move." Legal procedures are certainly good, but meanwhile, I am living in a precariously dangerous situation. I'm afraid to cook or walk around, or even take a deep breath, in what is supposed to be my home.

    I tell you this so you might be able to better understand that not everybody is a poor tenant or bad tenant, but that there are still a few people who believe in right verses wrong, and doing things that may help others' lives rather than just your own. As to your opinion, that's between you and your God or whatever you believe in.

  7. #7
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    Mar 2013
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    Default Re: What to Do if Your Landlord Won't Repair a Rental or Remove Mold

    Quote Quoting Revoltarian
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    Can anyone advise me or help me?
    I gotta ask.

    Why would you move into a piece of crap like that in the first place?

    You had to be aware of the condition before you took it.

  8. #8
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    Default Re: What to Do if Your Landlord Won't Repair a Rental or Remove Mold

    The answer usually is "I didn't have enough money to rent a better home."

  9. #9
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    Default Re: What to Do if Your Landlord Won't Repair a Rental or Remove Mold

    Quote Quoting Mr. Knowitall
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    The answer usually is "I didn't have enough money to rent a better home."
    Usually accompanied by "I can't afford a lawyer."

    Or "I can't afford to move."

  10. #10
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    Dec 2012
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    Default Re: What to Do if Your Landlord Won't Repair a Rental or Remove Mold

    We do tend to hear this from folks who have previously rented mobile homes since the rent on these tends to be less than with apartments, duplexes or houses.

    Gail

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