Landlord invaded privacy and now is evicting

[chucklenugget]

Hi there,

I live with my landlord and his wife in an attic in their home. I have a simple rental agreement and it does say that either person can terminate rent with 30 days notice.

However, what happened is my room was messy (but not horrible) my landlord informed me this past Friday morning that appraisers were coming Saturday. I had a flight to San Francisco Friday afternoon and did not have time to thoroughly clean my room. My landlord did not ask me to clean my room, I volunteered that I would try to pick it up.

When I got home there was an eviction letter. Also, my landlord had gone through my room, thrown stuff out, moved stuff around and cleaned it up. He left his glasses in y room as well. I cannot find things and am not sure where some of my laundry went. He then left a letter stating untrue information regarding the condition of the room.

Although I do live in their home, I am paying rent, have paid on time, have kept all common areas clean, and did sign a rental agreement. What are my rights as far as privacy? Did my landlord have the right to clean my room, throw things out, and move my things around?

What should be my next actions to take?

I had been told numerous times by his wife (the person who actually signed the rental agreement) that I was allowed to keep my room in any condition I wanted. She had been in my room perviously without warning and seen its condition and said this afterwards and never has given a warning or indicated a negative emotion to the state of the room in the past.

I would like more than 30 days notice at the very least if I am to have to move out.

Please help, I am seeking advice, counsel, and information on laws and my rights as the situation is not as clear cut as renting an apartment or a whole house.

Thank you very much.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Hi there,

I live with my landlord and his wife in an attic in their home. I have a simple rental agreement and it does say that either person can terminate rent with 30 days notice.

However, what happened is my room was messy (but not horrible) my landlord informed me this past Friday morning that appraisers were coming Saturday. I had a flight to San Francisco Friday afternoon and did not have time to thoroughly clean my room. My landlord did not ask me to clean my room, I volunteered that I would try to pick it up.

When I got home there was an eviction letter. Also, my landlord had gone through my room, thrown stuff out, moved stuff around and cleaned it up. He left his glasses in y room as well. I cannot find things and am not sure where some of my laundry went. He then left a letter stating untrue information regarding the condition of the room.

Although I do live in their home, I am paying rent, have paid on time, have kept all common areas clean, and did sign a rental agreement. What are my rights as far as privacy? Did my landlord have the right to clean my room, throw things out, and move my things around?

What should be my next actions to take?

I had been told numerous times by his wife (the person who actually signed the rental agreement) that I was allowed to keep my room in any condition I wanted. She had been in my room perviously without warning and seen its condition and said this afterwards and never has given a warning or indicated a negative emotion to the state of the room in the past.

I would like more than 30 days notice at the very least if I am to have to move out.

Please help, I am seeking advice, counsel, and information on laws and my rights as the situation is not as clear cut as renting an apartment or a whole house.

Thank you very much.

I'm sorry to hear about your situation. With a month to month tenancy, each party typically bears the right to terminate with a month's prior notice. It can be for a reason or no reason at all. So even if both of you comply with the lease, each of you can terminate it by will alone.

Now whis does NOT necessarily mean that it is 30 days from the notice. In many jurisdictions this means you must provide 30 days notice prior to the end of a term, meaning the following: If you pay rent on the 15th of every month and then on the 5th day of the month the landlord gave you notice, then the earliest you could be out would be the 15th of the following month, meaning you get 40 days. Depending upon your jurisdiction, it could be as much as 60 days.

I'm not sure there is much else that can be done. If you hold over for another extra month they wouldn't be able to evict you so very quickly although I can see all sorts of problems occurring. You may want to look to move elsewhere eventually since it seems like they may want to sell the home as well.

Good luck to you and sorry that this might not be what you had hoped to hear.