Can they do this?????

Okay, here's the thing. A couple months ago we had a community meeting for the apartment complex I live in. I didn't get to go because they gave us like three days warning for it, and on the day it was on I was getting my wisdom teeth pulled out. Anyway, they said it was about renovations to the complex, so I figured they were going to have people in to repaint the buildings or what have you.

Couple weeks ago, I got a notice saying that the corporation that owned the complex had changed, and from what it sounded like, they were renovating the apartments that were vacant, and that when they were done the newly done apartments would be available to current renters to move into so they could renovate the others. From the tone of the letter, it sounded like there was a choice. You could move out and into one of these newly done apartments, or you could stay put.

However, I heard a disturbing rumor yesterday and today one of my neighbors substantiated it. They are forcing everyone to move out! We have the OPTION of renting one of their newly done apartments if we want, for about three hundred dollars more in rent, or we can just move. Apparently, everyone in my building has to be out by the end of July. And that just happens to be the time my lease is up. (I was going to resign).

Can they do this? If my lease is up, can they just refuse to resign me and make me move even though I haven't done anything wrong? Can they drudge up some lame excuse to get me out on my ear? If they can, I have a month to find a new place to live (that takes animals) and come up with deposits, first and last month's rent, lalala...argh! I'm freaking out here! Someone help!

I don't know where you live but you better get ahold of someone with a legal background pretty quick because it sounds lile the fecal matter has hit the rotary occilator. I don't know what the law is in your area but I WOULD THINK THAT THEY MUST GIVE YOU ATLEAST SIXTY TO NINTY DAYS NOTICE. You need to get ahold of your county Housing Authority. Have you been given anything in writing yey from your new landlord? if so make sure you keep it. Make a couple of copies of it and do you still have a copy of your original lease cause you may need that too.

What a mess, but don't panic! There are a number of things you can do to help yourself & the other tenants. First of all, since landlord-tenant law varies by state, contact your state bar assoc. ( California's is calbar.org & has a great on-line pamphlet on landlord/tenant issues) for direction. You can also go to California's courtinfo.ca.gov and click on the self-help section regarding the laws & what you can do if an Unlawful Detainer is filed; it also gives links to tenant assistance associations. Also, your local township should have free landlord/tenant booklets available. It sounds like your landlords are hoping to renovate & increase rents across the board. In the worst case scenario, regarding your lease, if your landlords chose not to renew, yes, they could have you served with a 30-day notice to quit. If, at the end of the 30 days you weren't gone, they would have to bring an Unlawful Detainer action against you. You would be given the opportunity to file an answer with the court and a hearing would be set. If you lost in the hearing, you might have to pay court fees & costs but I think that the court would let you make payments. You would probably have to reimburse the landlord for the rent, but again, I think that the court would allow you to make arrangements; I'm not sure about that, but the bar association or tenant association could tell you for sure. Meanwhile, you're in my thoughts & prayers during this stressful time - a home is one of life's most important requirments! Take care & God be with you! Susan

By the way, here are a couple of websites that you could check out: www.dca.ca.gov/legal/landlordbook (California's Department of Consumer Affairs) and www.thelpa.com/lpa/llaw (has a page that contains the landlord handbooks for all the 50 states). Hope this helps! Susan

Originally Posted by catsknowme

What a mess, but don't panic! There are a number of things you can do to help yourself & the other tenants. First of all, since landlord-tenant law varies by state, contact your state bar assoc. ( California's is calbar.org & has a great on-line pamphlet on landlord/tenant issues) for direction. You can also go to California's courtinfo.ca.gov and click on the self-help section regarding the laws & what you can do if an Unlawful Detainer is filed; it also gives links to tenant assistance associations. Also, your local township should have free landlord/tenant booklets available. It sounds like your landlords are hoping to renovate & increase rents across the board. In the worst case scenario, regarding your lease, if your landlords chose not to renew, yes, they could have you served with a 30-day notice to quit. If, at the end of the 30 days you weren't gone, they would have to bring an Unlawful Detainer action against you. You would be given the opportunity to file an answer with the court and a hearing would be set. If you lost in the hearing, you might have to pay court fees & costs but I think that the court would let you make payments. You would probably have to reimburse the landlord for the rent, but again, I think that the court would allow you to make arrangements; I'm not sure about that, but the bar association or tenant association could tell you for sure. Meanwhile, you're in my thoughts & prayers during this stressful time - a home is one of life's most important requirments! Take care & God be with you! Susan

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Have you still got the notice they sent you two weeks ago? Perhaps you can call the mgmt corporation and ask for clarification. I for one refuse to panic until I've seen it in writing, because people can always misunderstand.

The same thing happened to my sister about 5 years . New people took over the apartment complex and they doubled the rent! She could not afford that and had to find a new place. Which was not very easy.

I went and talked to my complex manager today and found out that its true. A corporation has bought our complex and the one across the street. They are rebuilding them. The one across the street will be finished in the next week or so, and they will be moving people from our complex into that one with various moving specials and such. However, rent itself will be going up!

I have no recourse because my lease is up next month anyway and once it expires they can do whatever they wish, including raising the rent or simply choosing not to renew it.

They are kindly transferring all our security and pet deposits over if we choose to go to the second complex, so it wouldn't cost me anything to move, save whatever I would need to transfer my power and water bills over, etc. That is the ONLY way I would be able to afford to move right now. Thanks to a series of unforseen debts, my savings is all but nil and I'm struggling at the moment from paycheck to paycheck. So my only option is to go to the new complex.

Unfortunately, due to the rent hike, the only one I could afford would be the one bedroom, which is the same cost as the two bedroom I'm now renting. It's a much smaller space for the same price, but I simply cannot go higher at the moment.

Here's the problem, however. The reason I have a two bedroom apartment to begin with is that I have rabbits! They live in the second bedroom, away from my cats and dogs. One of these rabbits I've had since he was born. If I go into a two bedroom apartment, however, I will have no place for the rabbits that would keep them safely apart from the other animals. The cats I'm not worried about, but at least one of my dogs would most certainly do the rabbits harm at any opportunity. She's got a very high prey drive and it literally takes months of desensitizing for her to accept animals other than dogs. I never desensitized her to the bunnies because I felt it would frighten and stress them out too much.

Now, I have less than a month before I have to move, and nowhere for my rabbits to go. I do NOT want to give them up but I see no other choices. All the rescues that deal with rabbits are full, however, and I do not want them to go to a shelter. I have only a few weeks to rehome them on my own but what happens if I can't???

Someone, please help. I'm going crazy here and I'm just bawling because I don't want to give up my babies.

Do you have a close friend or relative that can take them while you work everything out?

Can the bunnies live in your bedroom and keep the dogs out for at least a while?

I'm not sure where you live but this site is really helpful finding places to live with pets

www.peoplewithpets.com

I'm trying to find someone now, but most of my relatives either don't like rabbits, have dogs themselves, or else they have very small children I would not trust around bunnies. I can't keep the dogs out of the bedroom as that's the only place that even remotely has room for their kennels, and that's with backing them up into the closet.

I'm trying everything right now to figure out a way to keep them.

Where are you located? Maybe someone at TCS could help? Or check with a local school, I had a pet guina pig (sp?) who started kindergarten with my little sister, and ended up spending 3 school years at school, and summers at home. Maybe a local elementary school would enjoy having the bunnies during the school year. That would leave you with ownership, and only a few summer months and Christmas break to keep them away from the dogs.

i would check with your landlord to validate the rumor. most of the time rumors are not true