Michael S
1/5
DECEPTIVE PRACTICES
o Landlord engaged in predatorial application tactics for financial gain. Landlord raised the rental price the day we were provided our rental application. Captive to our legal signature in the application process, Landlord delayed processing our application for weeks, leaving us no legal option to exit and no time to pivot. The delay probably cost the owner a month’s worth of rental income too.
o Landlord refused to counter-sign our rental agreement even after verbal approval. It left us in limbo because we were legally obligated but they really weren’t. As a result, we suffered extreme duress not knowing whether we would have a place to live for weeks. When discussed with Landlord (property manager / licensed realtor DRE# 01494391), she said she doesn’t countersign until move-in day. What an odd and egregious practice considering the fact that people need to plan, time and execute a move. The limbo status also killed our opportunity to buy furniture in advance. As such, we slept on the floor and sat on beach chairs in an otherwise empty home for several extra weeks, unnecessarily.
o Landlord falsely marketed the 2-bedroom rental as a 3-bedroom. During our video tour, Landlord didn’t disclose that the 3rd bedroom was not a genuine bedroom. I’d call it a living room immediately off the kitchen with some sort of added, half-depth, make-shift closet that is too shallow to hang clothes. No doubt marketing the home as a 3-bedroom garnered a higher rental price. And it certainly made for awkward living once we were stuck with it. Keep in mind that we saw the rental on a guided video tour. We only learned the truth on move in day.
o Landlord misled us about snowfall, which caused many undue hardships. Landlord told us “you can get a light dusting just during the worst of Tahoe storms.” That was a lie that just made the neighbors laugh and laugh.
UNINHABITABLE CONDITIONS
The inability to heat during cold weather is grounds for invoking the habitability clause. It’s a clause that ultimately leads to financial remedy for renters. Civil Code Sections 1941.1 and 1941.3; Health and Safety Code Sections 13113.7, 17920 to 17928.
o The Nevada County RECOGNIZED winter storms and power outages of January 2021, April 2021, December 2022 and February 2023 left us without the ability to heat the house during cold winter months. This qualified the home as uninhabitable on multiple occasions. The longest stretch without power was 15 days, the second was 11. Overall, though, we lost power, got snowed in or evacuated many more times for a total of over 30 days during our 3 winters there.
OTHER NUISANCES
o The rental lease included a snow blower that never worked. Unfortunately, we mistakenly thought it did and, as a result, it left us snowed in with no power on multiple occasions. At each occurrence, we wastefully spent money on more and more repairs, which was not reimbursed, nor were the snow removal services we paid in order to evacuate.
o No approval for washer/dryer for 4 ½ months. It took Landlord months to approve a washer/dryer at our own expense. During this time, we drove to the public laundry mat. The drive, the time spent there and the atmosphere were less than ideal. This approval should have taken days, especially since we purchasing at our own expense.
o No garage door opener for 6 weeks. Landlord tried to feed her network at the property owners expense citing the need to have a garage door company come program a new remote. After 6 weeks of waiting, I bought the garage door opener on Amazon and the next day I was in business. Not a big deal, but clicking a button to get in the garage is simply better than parking, going into the house, opening the garage, running out and jumping back in your car again, especially if you have kids and groceries. It just speaks to the consistent pattern of manufactured inconveniences as evidenced by the furniture, snow blower and washer/dryer situations mentioned above.
