I have rented a mobile home on 11 acres for the last 7 years. Back in November of 2009, the well collapsed on the property and the landlord did nothing to replaced the well. She was advised the day it happened and repeatedly. She took 3 lavish trips to China, Vietnam & Germany, yet did nothing about the well or getting us any water. We had to go out & spend money on pumps, 55 gallon drums to transport water, hoses and a 250 storage tank for the house. In July of 2010, we contacted Code Enforcement (in Martinez, CA, Contra Costa County) to advise them of the water issue. A Building Inspector came out only to notify us that the mobile home is illegal and is not even supposed to be there. It seems that there was a caretaker's permit on the mobile home that expired in 1988. At that time, either a new permit was supposed to be taken out or the home removed. It remained & the landlord continued to rent it as a legal residence. She received a letter from the County stating that the mobile home had to be vacated. She could then apply for another permit, the county would come out in 10 days to inspect the property and then let her know if they would issue a permit for the mobile to stay. We no sooner moved out of the house, then she moved herself & all her furniture in. The mobile is supposed to be vacant and isn't now. She is defying the county orders. Question is, we would like to sue her for the rent that we have paid on this illegal rental for the past 7 years. Is this possible? We are in Martinez, CA, Contra Costa County, Northern California.

First turn her into the County for violating living in the mobile home when she shouldn't be.

Second contact a good attorney to see if you can sue her for this illegal rental. The reason I say this is if she has all that money to take such wonderful trips all over then she will have lots of $$ to fight you in court with a real attorney if you decide to try and sue her yourself over this illegal rental for 7 years. That should amount to quite a chuck of change and she will definitely hire a professional to fight you in order to keep that pile of change in her bank account. Go for it.

Also, be sure to get any and all documents you can from the county folks and give them to your attorney. He will need a definite paper trail in order to properly sue her. Just phone calls and they said this and that won't work.

We were given an additional 30 days to get the rest of the property cleaned up. In the process, the property owner came up during that time, with people to clean up the property. The agreement had been made with the property owner that we would have the additional 30 days but she came up & started removing things off the property that did not belong to her. Is this illegal? Even in an Eviction, the landlord cannot just start getting rid of your property. They have to store it for a set amount of time. I have been served an Unlawful Detainer and right before Thanksgiving that I have to have answered by Monday, November 29th. HELP. Please let me know.

First, have you vacated or not? Did you move out but leave some things there? Did you get the agreement for 30 days additional in writing? How can you be served with an unlawful detainer if the property owner moved in? Do you have proof they moved in?

While it may be illegal to rent, it may not be illegal for the property owner to live there.

We vacated the illegal mobile home on September 23, 2010. While we remained for the 30 days (verbally that was agreed on by both the property owner & her brother) and made a demand for settlement for the equipment we had to obtain to get water (she has a letter from our attorney demanding the money) and for rent that was paid in the last year while we did not have water. We have had several discussions with both her and her brother present. Then on Tuesday afternoon, a process server came up (got stuck in the mud and unfortunately we pulled him out not knowing it was a process server) with an Unlawful Detainer, that has to be answered & filed with the court by Monday, November 29th. She is not supposed to be in the mobile home. It was supposed to have been removed back in 1988 (therefore, she is not supposed to be living there without county approval which requires a new permit for them to inspect) and was supposed to remain vacant & removed from the property. She has been paying property taxes on the existing barn on the property but not the mobile home, white storage container or shed that is on the property. Now, she is bringing someone else up here that she is trying to rent the property. We now that she is living in the mobile as she has stayed there herself as well as had men friends over. Her furniture is all the house (I have pictures). As well as her brother dumping out hazardous chemicals on the ground (which we called Hazmat & reported him). Any ideas??

You sue for your years rent ( don't even understand why you did not move ?) and for the equipment ( why did you not take it with you ?)

And you don't worry or bother what she is doing with the trailer now, it is none of your business at this point after you move out, except to sue for your damages.

Her living in, or renting to someone else, is her issue with the state and/or government and not yours.

Chuck is exactly right. Whatever they do with the home is none of your business. If you want to report them to the authorities feel free to do.

The two issues remaining to you are the Unlawful Detainer and your suit for damages. First the Unlawful Detainer. If I have the timeline right, you vacated on 9/23 plus 30 days to clear out your things. So by 10/23 you were gone. Therefore the Unlawful Detainer is moot. Your answer is simply that since you have already vacated, the Unlawful Detainer has no bearing and should be dismissed.

You then file suit for whatever you think you are entitled to.

I did turn her into the county when I contacted them about the collapsed well. That is how I found out that the mobile home was an illegal rental as well as every other building on the property with the exception of the existing barn. That is the only legal building on the property. That is also the only one that she pays property taxes on.

We surrendered possession of the mobile home on September 23, 2010. At that time, at a meeting with both the property owner and her brother, they allowed us to stay an additional 30 days, to help the other party living here, remove his property. The 30 days past, and during that 30 days, she called the cops about something they found (that in their minds was illegal) and hoped that the cops would come up here and arrest their problem. Then they could go on with their illegal activities. Well, that changed the game plan. We were asking for payment of what we have spent to obtain water for the last year as well as the rent that was paid during that time. In the process, she had an Unlawful Detainer, server on us right before Thanksgiving. Now, I have to answer the complaint and have it filed with the court by Monday, November 29, 2010. Unfortunately, we don't have a lot of money as both of us are unemployed. We did have a legal prepaid service, that got us an attorney in Los Angeles, to write the water letter. But as far as representing us in court, they would have to refer it out and it would be a 25% off the attorney's regular hourly rate. We can't afford that. I am going to contact Bay Area Legal Aid next week and see if I can obtain an attorney to help us on the Unlawful Detainer and court appearance. And then, with a lawsuit against her for rent paid in the seven years that we were here.

I have documentation from the county that I got right after I reported her stating that the unit is illegal. As well as a letter from the County stating that the mobile home has to be vacated (which we did) and stay vacated. She has to apply for a permit for the County to inspect to see if they will even allow her to keep the mobile home there. I really think that they are going to make her remove it, like it was to have been removed 22 years ago. We no sooner moved out, then she changed the locks on the mobile home and started moving right in. She has stayed there and also had men friends stayed there.

She is a real scum lord. We are the first and probably not the last people that she has tried to screw. Most people she kicks out, just leave without fighting it. Well, she met her match, because I am going to fight her tooth and nail.

I already told you what to do. You shouldn't need a lawyer to file the response to the Unlawful Detainer. An Unlawful Detainer is simply the first step in the eviction process. You have already vacated so the matter is moot and will be dismissed. In fact, when you point out to the court the UD was filed AFTER you had already vacated, they are not going to be happy about her wasting the court's time. You have the upper hand here, don't worry about it. You can also point out to the court that the UD was filed after you filed suit for reimbursement of costs. CA law does not allow retaliatory evictions.