So here's the story. I rented a room with a friend of a friend. No contract. 950/month for a bed to sleep in and a roof over my head. I had been there 2 months without any issues. None at all. The guy was friendly, polite and never had any issues with me coming and going at whatever odd hours I chose. This is in California, for state law reference.
So after 2 months, I had a completely unrelated incident that had nothing to do with the landlord. He seemed to handle it well, telling me even that he would take care of my cat for me while I was away for a few days. I was taken to the hospital by a friend and remained under care from Saturday 4/6 to Wednesday 4/10. During this time, specifically on 4/8 the landlord cashed my check for rent spanning 4/10-5/10, as my first day with him had been 2/10 so rent was due on 10th of the month. This was the verbally agreed on situation. When I returned from the hospital, he had changed the locks on the door, barring entrance to the property. I called to ask him why, and politely asked if he could let me in. He then got upset with me for trying to enter the property without his permission, which I had never needed in the past. All of my belongings, from my toothbrush to my thousands of dollars in computer hardware, gaming paraphanalea and plenty more was still locked inside the house in a room that has no locks on it. He has full access to it and now I don't. I'm worried about my belongings... Very worried. I spent the night with my parents as I didn't have a bed to sleep on, despite paying for it through next month. Now I am working on getting the police involved in the issue. My questions, are 1. Do I have the legal rights to a refund of the months rent that started yesterday, since I was barred access to my room? 2. What should I do if anything is missing? 3. What on Earth is my next step? I feel like I'm being scammed out of my life.
Like I said, I met him through a friend of a friend and I will hopefully be taking the friend with me to face the landlord, as well as police presence for sure for the move, as he's now getting irate, calling me and my mother crazy for requesting to pick up anything from the house last night. I have no idea why this change happened but it seemed to come out of nowhere. This week has been a nightmare for me, and the last thing I needed was to be evicted AND lose my rent money. And now it hardly sounds like I'm going to get my security deposit back either. What do I have the legal rights to in this situation? What can I do? How do I move forward legally?
Rent $950/month Security deposit $950 up front The first 2 months rent and security were all paid upfront, in a lump sum of $2850. This check has a memo stating "2 months + security deposit RENT Feb + March" The following check is for $950 and it's memo states "rent 4/10 - 5/10" While there is no written contract, we had what I believed to be a binding verbal agreement. I still have a copy of the key to his deadbolt, but now the door has another lock that I hadn't seen before and my key doesn't fit it.
It's it fair for the landlord to be upset with ME for not telling him exactly when I'm coming back? Because to me, if you cash the check while your leasee is in the hospital, he better have a place to come home to when all is said and done... Any advice is helpful at this point as I'm genuinely lost as to how this could be considered acceptable under any circumstances. Thanks r/legaladvice!
Written By: allkittyy
Source: http://bit.ly/2KsLMIy
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