Renter tosses feeder; still, owners want to toss renter

Question: I rent in Ventura. I had a birdfeeder for about three years. Then the pest control company used by the owners decided the feeder attracted bugs and mice.

I was not verbally advised of this. I was just given a three-day notice to quit. I immediately took the feeder down, but that doesn’t seem to be good enough for them.

Can they give me a three-day notice to quit in this situation?

Answer: The owners cannot give a three-day notice to quit for this.

They should have given you a three-day notice to perform covenant or quit. That notice gives you three days to correct a breach of the rental agreement or move out of the apartment.

They probably should have first given you a 30-day notice either indicating that they would be enforcing or adding that provision to the contract.

A three-day notice to quit is only used for incurable breaches in a contract. These include things such as the tenant lighting the unit on fire, which is an incurable breach.

The birdfeeder breach was easily cured when you took it down “immediately.”

That should have solved the problem.

Power surge fried their appliances

Question: The Los Angeles apartment building where I live recently experienced a power surge.

My insurance company and the Department of Water and Power both denied claims that I sent in with receipts for most of my major appliances, which I had to replace.

DWP said that it wasn’t responsible because it didn’t cause the power surge, and my renters’ insurance company said that it would only cover my phone because the electrical surge was man-made. The city says it didn’t cause the surge.

Can you help me, or do I need an attorney?

Answer: Philip McIntyre of the RFP Insurance Agency recommended reading your insurance policy with care to find out specifically what your insurance company does and does not cover.

McIntyre said that in his experience DWP does not pay for problems it doesn’t cause, but there also is an appeal process for claims that are not approved. Check with the power company for details on that.

Since the city of Los Angeles claims that it didn’t cause the problem, and the insurance company says that it was man-made, this would seem to indicate that the problem might have been caused by the DWP.

You may indeed need an attorney to resolve this problem.

Kevin Postema is the editor of Apartment Age magazine, a publication of the Apartment Assn. of Greater Los Angeles, an apartment owners’ service group. E-mail questions about apartment living to AptlifeAAGLA@aol.com, c/o Kevin Postema, or mail to AAGLA, c/o Kevin Postema, 621 S. Westmoreland Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90005.