Mother Jones writes, "It's not easy to evict someone in California… Generally that's a good thing." But many people who read the article in which this claim appears may reach a different conclusion.
Posted on 01/04/2017 2:09:33 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Mother Jones writes, "It's not easy to evict someone in California… Generally that's a good thing." But many people who read the article in which this claim appears may reach a different conclusion.
Elizabeth Abel, an English professor at the University of California-Berkeley, rented her two-bedroom home to David Peritz, who teaches at Sarah Lawrence College. Abel didn't bother to ask for references or do much research on her prospective tenant, according to Mother Jones: the fact that he was an academic was essentially good enough for her.
Her trust was misplaced. Peritz failed to pay rent on time, and it didn't take long for him to stop paying entirely:
By the time April 1 came and went without a rent check, Abel had had enough. She wrote Peritz to tell him she was taking him to small-claims court. Around the same time, Abel's neighbors began writing her increasingly concerned emails. One of them had even seen Peritz taking her furniture down the driveway to the office in the garage late at night. They rarely, if ever, saw his wife or son.
Abel got in touch with the Kensington Police Department, which sent an officer by the house to talk with Peritz. The officer emailed Abel to tell her that he thought Peritz was "trying to establish squatters rights or lock you out," and that she should have a cop accompany her when she eventually came back home. Someone from the police department would tell her she should start the eviction process as soon as possible. It might take weeks, even months, to get Peritz out of her house.
That's because of California's insane laws governing landlord-tenant interactions. The law protects tenants engaged in the worst sorts of cons—they can essentially continue to occupy a home, without ever paying rent, for months at a time. The eviction process is so crazy, it even formed the basis of the plot on an episode of HBO's Silicon Valley (the episode, according to Bustle, was pretty dead-on). According to Mother Jones:
This process was set up in part to protect tenants from predatory landlords. But in some instances it has provided cover for people looking to score a few months of free housing. In 2008, SF Weekly reported that there were between 20 and 100 serial evictees operating in San Francisco—bouncing from home to home without ever paying a dime.
The sharing economy has provided new opportunities for grifters to game the system. So-called Airbnb squatters—like the pair of brothers who refused to leave a Palm Springs condo in the summer of 2014 after paying one month's rent—have become more common. It's enough of an issue that Airbnb has a page devoted to the topic; it warns that local laws may allow long-term guests to establish tenants' rights.
Peritz has been accused of doing exactly this. Someone even set up a website to warn people not to rent their homes to him.
Thankfully, Abel finally prevailed over Peritz (for the most part), largely thanks to a public shaming campaign launched by sympathetic academics—including feminist giants Judith Butler and Wendy Brown. "I will write to every colleague in your field explaining the horrible scam you have committed," Brown threatened. Students have tried to get Peritz fired—and for once, such an effort seems entirely merited. Suffice it to say, someone like Peritz should not be teaching a course on "Ethics and Politics of New Technology."
Peritz eventually vacated the premises, and has started making restitution payments to Abel, according to Mother Jones. But what about all the landlords out there who don't have Judith Butler on speed dial? They are at the mercy of a system designed to protect scammers from the consequences of taking advantage of property owners.
Liberals who support California's eviction policies—including many of the folks at Mother Jones, I presume—will say these laws are necessary in order to prevent landlords from mistreating their tenants: to stop them from evicting people without notice, force them to fix the utilities, and prevent sudden rent increases. But this seems like a case where the straightforwardly libertarian approach works just fine: landlords and tenants should be permitted to agree to mutual terms, spell them out in a contract, and sue each other if either party violates it. The problem with California's laws is that they supersede these contracts, tip the scales in favor of tenants, and enable the kinds of horrific abuses detailed in the Mother Jones article.
In any case, Abel told Mother Jones that she's hoping her ordeal could persuade policymakers to reform Caifornia's eviction laws. It's sure nice to see college professors standing up for private property rights.
"including feminist giants Judith Butler and Wendy Brown"
A story of mythic proportions. Great writing.
Ridiculous. She must not be aware of what political party runs this state. There is no chance. None.
No legal problem here in Florida.
In addition, I get first months, last months and two months security, and start eviction 10 days after late rent.
Also, my maintenance man is 6’ 8”, a former Bolles High School football 3-season starting lineman, and I gave him my old Glock.
No problems!
When I was working psych wards nothing changed until a sacred bleeding heart social worker or psychologist got beat, spit on, threatened, or even yelled at( threatened in some manner) BOOM! all of a sudden there are consequences for behavior.
You are on to something that I've observed( and you obviously) over and over. If there's a way to play the leftist and work the other leftists that would change things. Sad but true
In CA a guest establishes tenancy after 30 days in residence, whether they pay rent or not. Never let a guest get close to 30 days....
Dork be thy name.........
I have a few units in Silicon valley.
I am VERY careful who I rent to.
And there was a fellow who was always going on about "equality of outcome" (communism) but he was the first to go on strike when the groundskeepers got a raise and the professors didn't. He actually had the nerve to complain that they were getting almost as much as new professors, and when I asked him, "I thought that was what you wanted," he sputtered that this was DIFFERENT... I hated them.
Here in California, in 2002, I had a tenant cease paying rent. It took 6 months to evict him. He and his friends and family caused more and more damage to the property in the time the court kept granting him extensions, and I was getting no income from unit, while I still had expenses I had to meet.
With no income from the unit, I still had to pay the property’s mortgage, insurance, taxes, and water bill. I had to pay the lawyer to handle the eviction. I had to pay the sheriff to actually deliver the final eviction notice to force the family out. I had to pay the locksmith to meet the sheriff to get into the unit. Animal Control had to come get the dogs (which weren’t allowed under the lease), but I don’t think I had to pay for them.
After the sheriff finally got him out, it took a couple of months to repair the damage and then the property was SOLD! I will never again be a landlord in California.
When people complain about the high price of renting in California, I just shake my head. Landlords are taking an enormous risk, and the state laws are stacked against the property owners. Landlords have to try to get every possible dollar out of their property, as they are always running the risk of a bad tenant and months of no income to get the tenant evicted.
A certain adjunct lecturer from Columbia and Harvard comes to mind.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.