Poorly Worded Note May Work Against Owner
QUESTION: I live in a Long Beach apartment that has secured front and back entrances (key required) and underground parking with a secured gate. I pay an extra $125 a month for the parking space.
The garage door repeatedly has malfunctioned for the past nine months. The owner and manager are aware of the problem.
My car has been broken into twice along with the cars belonging to several of my neighbors. We also have chased strangers out of the garage at night and in the early mornings as the garage entrance is located off of a highly used alley.
Last month the owner added an addendum to our leases stating that we have secured parking and entrances, but it is not security parking or entrances. Therefore, she concludes, she is not liable for any damages from break-ins.
Can she get away with this? Is it legal?
ANSWER: Because of the language used by the owner in her notices, this question is a little tricky.
In general, apartment owners may cancel services or change the level of services to renters with a 30-day notice. However, the language used to do that in this owner’s notice is somewhat ambiguous.
It says that you “have secured parking and entrances but it is not security parking or entrances.” If a dispute arose, you may have a good argument in court that you were confused by what the notice meant.
When contracts or notices are drafted ambiguously, courts usually find against the drafter of the contract. That’s the owner in this situation.
If I were this owner, I would not feel too secure about the way in which the non-security notices are worded. She would have been better off giving you notices saying that there is no security parking or entrances at the property and leaving it at that.
Can Long-Term Renter Ask for Reduction?
Q: I have lived in my two-bedroom apartment for the past seven years. When I moved in the rent was $800 a month. Now it is $900. It has not been raised at all for the past two years.
Recently, I found out that my landlord now is renting two-bedroom apartments for $850. Do I have a right to ask him how come I am paying more than the new renters?
A: Many landlords across L.A. County have had to lower rents because of Southern California’s slow economy. With vacancy rates over 10% in the county (twice the federal standard for a healthy market, which is 5%), the competition for good renters has become fierce.
While you can always ask the landlord about the rents, and he may lower yours, he is not obligated to lower it regardless of the rate he is charging new renters.
“Apartment Life” columnist Kevin Postema has published “The Best of Apartment Life: How to Survive Apartment Living and Ownership,” a 154-page soft-cover compilation of columns printed in The Times over the past five years.
It provides answers to 85 of the most frequently asked questions about apartment living, managing and ownership. The 23 chapters include “Nightmare on Elm Street: Tenant Screening,” “Water, Water Everywhere: Rules for Pools,” and “When the Party’s Over: All About Moving Out.”
The book sells for $12.75, which includes tax, postage and packaging. Checks, made payable to AAGLA, should be sent to Apartment Assn. of Greater Los Angeles, c/o Kevin Postema, 621 S. Westmoreland Ave., Los Angeles, Calif. 90005. Allow three weeks for delivery.
