2007 San Diego Wildfires
Today is October 18, 2011. Almost 4 years ago, wildfires ravaged San Diego County. The fires included the Witch Creek Fire, the Guejito Fire and the Rice Fire. Many people have brought lawsuits as a result of the fire and since then litigation against SDGE and others have proceeded in San Diego County Superior Court.
While many have had their claims settled, there are still a lot of people effected by the San Diego Wildfires that have legitimate claims against those responsible that have not filed a lawsuit. Time is running out for those that have not filed. At the four year mark, many if not all of the claims may be barred by what is knows as the statute of limitations – basically a time limit on when you can sue after you are damaged.
For those people effected by the 2007 San Diego Wildfire, whether it be the Witch Creek Fire, the Guejito Fire or the Rice Fire, that have not filed a lawsuit for their damages, there is very little time left to preserve your claims.
Our firm has been involved in the 2007 San Diego Wildfire litigation and have recovered for our clients. If you think you may have a claim, please do not hesitate to contact our office. Our attorneys are ready to handle your case.
If you have a claim, you should also know that our office handles 2007 San Diego Wildfire Cases on a contingency basis.
619-615-0767
www.thompsonlawsd.com
srw@thompsonlawsd.com
As a San Diego Eviction Lawyer, I am seeing more and more frustrated San Diego landlords attempting to remove tenants by what is known as self help.
The problem is that self help is not OK. Self help includes things like shutting off utilities such as water and power. It also includes coming into the unit and moving the tenants property out of rooms or out of the unit altogether. Changing locks is also a no no.
Landlords that try self help methods may find themselves in a heap of trouble. Most self help results in what is known as constructive eviction. This is bad for landlords.
As an initial matter, if the tenant does not leave as a result of your self help, a landlord will have to go through the eviction process. Depending on the basis for the eviction, constructive eviction may be an affirmative defense that leads to the tenant winning the eviction lawsuit. In such a case, the landlord finds themselves in a situation where the tenant gets to stay and the landlord may have to do a lot of work just to get to the point where they can try another eviction.
But even if the tenant leaves as a result of a landlords self help, the landlord may still face serious problems. The tenant can sue the landlord after she leaves for constructive eviction. There are several theories of the recovery for the plaintiff that may include statutory damages and actual damages.
The point is: self help is a bad idea. It is a much better idea (and maybe cheaper) to hire a San Diego Eviction Lawyer and follow the law.
To get rid of an unwanted tenant, you must follow the laws in California. Typically this involves serving the tenant some sort of notice and then filing an unlawful detainer if the tenant does not do what is required in the notice. Only after you have obtained a judgment from a Court can you have the Sheriff forcibly remove a tenant.
San Diego Eviction and Unlawful Detainer Attorney:
Does a San Diego tenant have to pay rent if the landlord is not paying the mortgage and facing possible foreclosure?
As a San Diego Landlord Eviction Attorney, I am getting more and more calls from Landlords asking me this very question.
Sometimes the landlord tells me that she simply cannot pay the mortgage. Sometimes the landlord tells me that she is not paying the mortgage because she wants to get a loan modification and the only way the bank will deal with them is if they are behind so they stop paying.
In the end, it does not really matter why theowner is behind on the mortgage.
The tenant has to pay the rent. It is does not matter if the landlord is paying the mortgage or not.
What amazes me about this it appears that there are tenant lawyers out there telling tenants to quit paying the rent because they cannot be evicted if the owner isn’t paying the mortgage. These tenants are getting bad advice and the end result will be the tenant gets evicted and the landlord has to try to enforce the judgment for back rent. This is not good for anyone. So tenants, please take note: you must pay the rent. You do not get to live for free. Just as there are consequences for the landlord if he fails to pay the mortgage, there are consequences for you if you do not pay the rent – EVICTION.
I should note that there may be an exception to this rule. It is possible that the certain contracts and laws require the tenant to pay the bank instead of the landlord. But the simple truth of the matter, is that the tenant is going to be hard pressed to find someone at the bank to accept the rent and even if they do, they will be even harder pressed to prove in Court that they actually paid the rent to someone they were supposed to pay. They will likely still get evicted.
So tenants, save yourself and your landlord some hassle and pay what you owe.
If you want to know more about the San Diego eviction process, read the related posts below or head over to our website dedicated to landlord evictions and written by our San Diego Eviction Attorneys. You can also get our free report on the top 3 three landlord mistakes.
As a San Diego Eviction Attorney, one of the most common reasons that people come to me after losing an eviction case they lost is that the tenant convinced the judge that they were never served with the notice (3 Day Notice or Pay or Quit, Thirty and Sixty and Ninety Day Notices, Three Day…
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As a San Diego Eviction Attorney, I discuss evictions and unlawful detainers almost every day with clients and potential clients. One thing I commonly hear is that San Diego landlords seems to think that rent is due on the 1st but not late until after the 5th of the month. Ok first things first, rent…
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As San Diego Foreclosure and Bankruptcy Attorneys, we hate to see people in desperate times get scammed. Unfortunately, it happens every day. The latest foreclosure scam busted by the authorities apparently involved at least 300 victims. At least 40 of those victims were in San Diego County. We have discusses San Diego foreclosure scams and…
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