I have not paid my rent for 2 months but have been making payments to my Landlord and she accepts them . I live in a home and she came over and gave me a 3 day notice to pay rent or quit to day and said I have to move out by Nov 1 2011 and that she is turning off the water on that day . Can she do that and she has been coming to my house every weekend harassing me for the rent what can I do ?

Sorry, her coming asking for the rent is not harassment, that is collections.

So you pay her the rent, and it all stops.

You are suppose to move out if you have not paid her in three days. She can then just merely file in court and have you evicted ( have your belongings set out to the curb under court supervision)

She can not shut off the water legally, but assuming you don't even have the money to pay for the rent, you don't have any money to sue her for shutting the water off if she does it illegally.

So you need to work out an agreement or move out. Landlords are in business and should have long ago evicted you if you are two months behind.

I was advised that she has to start the Eviction process , such as file for a unlawfull detainer and then I have to answer the unlawfull detainer and that's when the process begins and until she does that she can't turn off any utilities ,

I did some checking FR_Chuck but with all due respect you answer is incorrect here in California the landlord has to # 1 -send you a 3 Day Notice to pay rent or quit # 2 if the 3 Day notice does not work then the Landlord has to go to court and file a Unlawful Detainer which takes approx 30 Days # 3- Then the tenant has 15 days to respond and then another 30 days gone by before you go to court #4 then the judge gives you another 15 days to move out unless the tenant files a motion to quash , then that takes another 30 days , In short the Land lord thinks you have to move out in 3 days but in fact you can fight the notice and it can take the landlord about 4 to 6 months even up to a year not to mention Court fees before they can even evict you at least here in Ca. That's the process . Also if the tenant does not have funds to pay for the court fees the tenant can File with the Court for a motion to waive court fees so in fcat the tenant is not out of any monet at all only the land lord

Concerned 321 - please post your source. I can verify SOME of what you have posted but SOME of it I cannot.

I did not say that other legal action did not have to happen if the tenant would not do the morally correct thing and even the legally correct thing and either pay or move out, as the notice requires.

But honestly there are most likely as many illegal evictions in the US each week as there are legal ones. Landlords set out the belongings of renters, they turn off the electric or water. They mess up the air unit, or even break out windows, I knew one once that took the front door off the hinges and took it for "repair".

So this poster has to be prepared to have the water shut off, the landlord most likely does not care it is illegal to do. If it gets the tenant to move out faster.

And that brings me to why it happens, because the landlord knows the person who can't pay a their rent, most likely has no money to pay an attorney to sue them for a doing this. I know many landlords who do illegal evictions every month because it sames them so many 1000's of dollars over the course of time, and the few times they are sued, they lose the value of a couple months rent, they would have lost on the renter anyway.

They just must be aware just because it is illegal, does not mean the landlord will not do it.

Whether the Tenant can not pay the court fees to file suit is not correct many court systems in the US have a form that all persons can file to waive all court fees . And since a tenants does not have the funds to do so it puts them in a better situation to file the papers , with the Land Lord paying the full price , as far is it being morally correct to move out , has nothing to do with the LAW and the tenants rights given to them in this great country... and if the landlord does turn off any utilities they can be assessed a 100.00 fine per day imposed by the courts not to mention relocation to a new location , the main problem is that the majority of People do not know there rights as tenants . Because some landlords can be slum lords in not repairing anything in their rental property at all , its more then Just a business as you put it , its about doing right by the tenant.. That's why we have Laws to protect the tenants that rent there properties.. Now there are self help centers in the courts to help tenants fight Illegal evictions which can be held up in the courts system for 6 months to year depending on the situation involved

Whether the Tenant can not pay the court fees to file suit is not correct many court systems in the US have a form that all persons can file to waive all court fees . And since a tenants does not have the funds to do so it puts them in a better situation to file the papers , with the Land Lord paying the full price , as far is it being morally correct to move out , has nothing to do with the LAW and the tenants rights given to them in this great country ... and if the landlord does turn off any utilities they can be assessed a 100.00 fine per day imposed by the courts not to mention relocation to a new location , the main problem is that the majority of People do not know there rights as tenants . Because some landlords can be slum lords in not repairing anything in their rental property at all , its more then Just a business as you put it , its about doing right by the tenant .. That's why we have Laws to protect the tenants that rent there properties.. Now there are self help centers in the courts to help tenants fight Illegal evictions which can be held up in the courts system for 6 months to year depending on the situation involved

This is a sermon, not legal information. As I asked you earlier, PLEASE post your source.

What you are saying is NOT true in every State. I have no idea what "as far as being morally correct to move out" means.

Again - this is a law board. Perhaps this is a better topic for a discussion board, landlord vs tenant. For every tenant who has been mistreated by a landlord there is a landlord who has been mistreated by a tenant.