tenant left house destroyed.. landlord in CA needs legal advice?

Question

what is the time period that a landlord has to take a past tenant to small claims court for damage ($7,500.) to property and stolen fountain. home is located in orange county, california.
he was a tenant for 2 years. while moving out he had surgury and girlfriend and others destroyed house and left. he said he would pay but it must of slipped his mind.. ya right. its one year later, whats the best course of action? thanx in advance, cecilia

Jan G much appreciation for your no nonsence answer, i'm feeling better that i have not waited to long . i took so many pictures of my million dollar house looking like a crake house, i can't imagine any judge not graveling tenant to death. CA small claims just went up to $7500 in jan. in reality the damage was close to 15k ( i kept all receipts). but i would settle for 7500 to keep it out of civil court, where the lawyer would make out better than i. if i'm wrong, please advice about civil vs small claims. tenant has good job

Answer 1

If you're willing to accept $7,500 then definitely go to small claims. Going to the regular Superior Court will be a monumental head-ache for you. The process can take up to 12 to 18 months. In small claims, there are no lawyers and a speedy resolution (usually about 30 to 60 days from filing to judgment) is virtually gauranteed. The filing fees, in addition, are around $100 (including cost of service) as opposed to $450 (including cost of service.) Small claims is definitely the way to go if you're willing to except the monetary jurisdictional limit of the court.

As for the statutes of limitation -- the statute of limitation in California is 4 years on a written contract (CCP 337(a)), 4 years for a breach of a written lease (CCP 337.2) or 3 years for injury to real property (CCP 338(b).)

Answer 2

Oral agreement you have 5 years, written agreement you have 10 years. Small Claims court in the state of Arkansas only goes up to $5000.00. So you will need to check with the Small Claims division in your local District Court Clerks office. Over $5000.00 here has to go to curcuit court, then you have to have an attorney. It may be more in California if you do take him to small claims court and win you can do the following to collect. You can garnish his wages if he has a job, you can garnish his bank account if you know where he banks, if those fail you can do a Writ of Execution. The Writ of Execution usually cost more but you get your money back plus the cost of the Writ. That is done with the Sheriffs Dept after having the paper work signed and seal from the clerks office. The Sheriffs Office goes to the home and seizes anything the defendant owns outright, such as vehicles, tv's, dvd players etc. It is then sold at an action and you will receive all money collected.

Answer 3

if he was the only one on the lease, he's the only one you can deal with. It's a sad story, but if you want your money that is what you have to do and I suggest you take him to court. Did you report the damages to the police initially? If not, you might be out of luck. I'm not sure about the time span question, I apologize. Why not just ask an attorney?

Answer 4

reckoning on your state and city regulations you often have some rights. decide for to be secure. this implies your landlord can not come into the tenants residing house or house or purely room you pay lease for till you invite or enable. some rentals have an inspection clause that facilitates the owner to flow into with word and your permission. any incorrect way a landlord can enter is that if he suspect unlawful strikes. yet to try this he in all likelihood desires police or choose ruling. the different issues in all likelihood fall decrease than harassment. alongside with consistently being instructed your neighbor reported you ------- or telephone calls or you're noisy, have too many travellers that take in parking, worked third trick for awhile whilst youthful and the neighbor downstairs did no longer like that i got here and went at different hours than she did. wager she theory i exchange right into a hooker. i moved. whilst the owner tried to get me to pay for the tip of the hire i instructed him to sue me. he did no longer.