Tenant Deserves 4-Hour Notice Before Entry

QUESTION: My landlady enters my back yard without giving any notice. She says she’s taking care of maintenance, but I think she also uses her visits as an excuse to snoop. Last week she surprised me while I was sunbathing, and made it clear that she didn’t approve of my outfit. Do my privacy rights extend to a fenced back yard? Shouldn’t she give me notice before coming over?

ANSWER: Your landlady should give you the same four-hour notice when she plans to enter your back yard as she would for any other non-emergency entry of the property. You may need to remind her, in writing, of your rights under Civil Code Section 1954. Tell her that while you certainly appreciate her diligence in performing routine maintenance, you also would appreciate advance notice of her visits. As always, keep a copy of this letter for your files. The practice of giving a four-hour notice, in addition to fulfilling a legal requirement, works to the advantage of both tenant and property owner in preventing embarrassing and inconvenient situations such as the one you described.

Aide Entitled to Disabled Parking Spot

Q: I am 75 years old. Last year I broke my hip and now I have to use a walker to get around. A nurse’s aide comes to help me three times a week. She takes me to the doctor and to the market for shopping. I do not have a car, so we use her vehicle for these trips. There are plenty of parking spaces for all tenants in my complex, but I am having a hard time securing a parking space near the door of my residence that the aide can use when she visits. Isn’t the management supposed to accommodate me in this situation because I am considered disabled?

A: Yes, as long as the aide is using her car to transport you on your errands, you should be given a parking space close to your unit. According to the Fair Housing Amendments act, “it shall be unlawful for any persons to refuse to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, particles or services, when such accommodations may be necessary to afford a handicapped person equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling unit, including public and common use areas.”

If He Pays Late Fee, Can He Be Evicted?

Q: The manager of our complex told me that I will be asked to move out unless I begin paying my rent on time. Our rental agreement says that if rent is paid after the fifth day of the month, there is a late charge. Every time I paid my rent late, I also paid the late fee without complaining. Therefore, I think I respected the terms of the agreement and that my late payments should not be held against me.

A: You are mixing apples and oranges by interpreting two separate items of the rental agreement as one. Each rental agreement specifies the day that rent is due. Additionally, many managers will introduce a clause that allows them to charge a penalty for late payments. This fee is supposed to be a deterrent, and at the same time is intended to cover costs incurred by the landlord when he does not receive payments on time.

So, even if you paid the late fee agreed upon, the fact remains that your rent was not paid when it was due. Most landlords keep strict records of untimely payments, and they become part of your tenant history. The best way to avoid situations like yours is to pay the rent on the date that it is due.

Mobile-Home Resident Can Get Deposit Back

Q: After a long search, I finally found an affordable mobile-home space to rent and I plan to move my home into the park within a few weeks. How much deposit can I be charged when I move in? I cannot afford to hand over hundreds of dollars with little or no hope of getting it back.

A: The mobile-home park management must ask for your deposit on or before the date you actually occupy the space, and the deposit collected must not exceed twice the amount of your monthly space rental, or be increased after you move in.

If you pay your space rental, service and utility charges no later than five days after the due date, for any 12 consecutive months, you will be entitled to a full refund of your deposit within 30 days of the end of the month period.

This refund, which you must request in writing, should give you a strong incentive to get those payments in on time. Unlike tenants in other rental situations, you don’t need to move out to get your deposit back.