3 years ago I moved into a small apt. complex. I have 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. After living there for a month I found out that the owner has a coin washer and dryer down in the garage and I'm paying for 6 families to wash through the electricity. After confronting her she only would pay 50.00 per month, OK being a single parent and stupid I thought that was OK. 6 months later I find out there's a serious wiring problem inside my unit, my electric bill is doubled to tripled every month, the owner is fully aware and yes she's tried a few times to have the problem fixed but yet has failed. OK here's the real problem. 8 months ago she took over my bills, in the new contract it said she would pay them for 6 months ,now the agreements up and my electric bill has been average so she's going to keep them in her name, but now... I heard from someone who lives in this complex that my bill for this month was 839.00 and the owner now claims that she doesn't know why its so high and that I must be growing pot in my home, she even called my work and stated that to my boss. After I decided not to pay her another dime and to find another home,which I haven't found yet,she calls daily and begs for me to return her call and to work something out but I don't call her back. She gave me a 24 hour notice which the date was the 12th and she stated on the paper she was entering my unit on the 12th or 13th. So on the 13th she brought in a police officer with her to search for pot plants that she told the police I had to be growing because my electric bill was so high, of course when I went to the Dept. the officer said he didn't find a thing and how lovely my apt. was, so no report was filed. O yeah and she also turned my electricity off on the 3rd day of my 3 day notice with 2 minor children in the home and we lost all of our food,with no air conditioner on at 100 degrees and higher outside. I want to take her to court but I don't know if I would win,any advice? I live in Hemet California.

She can not turn your electric off, this is a violation of law. Yes you can take her to court

Would you like to become a landlord? I think you can sue her and wind up owning the complex. Get an attorney immediately. You have at least three grounds for suit a) slander/libel for the accuation about pot, b) false police report c) turning off the electricity.

As Chuck noted its illegal to turn off utilities. She had no basis for her pot accusation and by filing a police report that accusation became a matter of public record.

Now you made a mistake in stopping rent payments. You have no right to do so. You can sue if she has violated the lease, but not stop payments. At the least, you needed to put your rent payments into an escrow account pending resolution of your complaint. I would set up such an account immediately.

Thank you so much for your answers, it makes me feel better.I have another question or two, I hope that's OK. Yesterday my landlord called my sister and asked her to give me the message that she was turning back on my electric and if it was OK with me she and an electrician are going to enter my Apt. tomorrow so he can figure out the problem. At first I wasn't going to let them in but I've decided to have him come in and fix this so the next tenants won't get taken advantage of. I know the only reason why she's turning it back on is for the electrician and I betcha she'll turn it back off in the next day or two. My question is, if she turns it back off can she get in more trouble? also am I doing the right thing by letting them inside without a notice?. I'll let you know what happens.

First, she IS giving you notice, maybe not exactly official, but notice nonetheless. So I would let her in, but, it at all possible, I would have someone there.

As for the electricity, you need to tell her that she is violating the law by turning it off. That you already plan to sue her for doing so, and if the electricity is not turned back on, that will be noted in the suit.

Ok let me tell you how it now ends :(. This morning my landlord and 2 electricians came into my Apt. I wanted to stay so bad because I had this feeling that if I left something would go wrong. Before I left Esabelle gave me a notice and it said that she was giving me 30 days to put the electricity back in my name and that she was going to fix this electric problem today.I told her to fix the problem and we'll discuss what to do. I had to go to work,so I left . O yeah before I left Esabelle told me that she received her closing bill and for 8 days my electric bill was 176.00... No way! that's 839.00 for 30 days and 176.00 for 8 days... CRAZY!. this is a 2 bedroom Apt... About 3 hours ago Esabelle (the landlord) called and left me a message on my cell phone and told me that the Elecricians found NO problem inside my unit. She said there's no way that something is wrong, that they checked everything out and everything is reading OK. Now I'm so stuck, I now have no clue what to do. I'm so worried now that if I take her to court for the harassment and turning off my elecricity she'll counter sue me for the 8 months that she paid my electric bill.I'm so positive that something's wrong with my watts or wiring or whatever but if those 2 elecricians say there's nothing wrong then it'll probably hold up in court... What makes me upset is one of these guys have been in my Apt. before for the same reason, I think he works for the owner... O well I guess she's going to get away with this one and I'm so stressed that she legally now can evict me and win, augh trying to find another place is hard.. Well anyway I think they came in my Apt. maybe they found what the problem was,and maybe it was a small thing so they fixed it while no one was looking... There is no way that my Apt. would use that much electricity. I lived not to far from here in a place that had 3 bedrooms, about the same size, used about the same amount of electricity in my unit as I do now and my bill was never over 150.00 a month.O well I guess I better pay her her back rent and call it a day and get the heck out of this place so I won't have to pay a huge bill every month, gosh I wish I could prove what a rotten landlord I have to a judge... Thank you all for your advise you gave and have a wonderful day.

Yes, you need to pay her the back rent immediately. I already mentioned that it was a mistake to withhold it.

Next, get your own electrician in to check the wiring. You have the right to getting your own expert.

Once you have done that, based on your electrician's advice, you can decide how to proceed.