Burden of proof? I demand NO CAUSE explanation

By Knucklehead

Hello there, 
 
Frustrated tenant here.  I’m halfway through a 60-day No Cause termination of month-to-month agreement. 
 
The case against me has been summarized as: 
 
"Defacement of property" which was as simple as having painted a tasteful mural on the door to the unit. (This is at a housing community designated and advertised to attract "creatives" and "artists")  A notice was issued threatening eviction unless the door were repainted white before deadline 12/25/13.  The door was repainted in time. 
 
So imagine my surprise when issued 60 day No Cause move out notice on January 2, 2014. 
 
Property manager claims to have no control in this event, acting on directions of her superiors.  She says the office has received a complaint by another tenant regarding my personality or behavior on a certain date and time, but claims she was told by her superiors that the details of involving that complaint are "NOT PERTINENT" to her knowledge, and has been unwilling to furnish anything related to the matter. 
 
I wrote to the management a well-constructed motion for dismissal in my best legalese.  It has been a week without response.  The last report from the office manager is that the decision was now down to the ACCOUNTANT, because the owner’s SON (aka decision maker) was out of town. 
 
I am far from the first tenant who has faced impasse with this agency. 
 
They promote this place as a live/work space for creative artists, and after 2 years of no complaints I am suddenly told that I cannot practice my drums or electric guitar.  They have bullied and harassed more tenants than I can count or could even know about.  They have adopted new, extreme policies of throwing EVERYTHING in the trash left unattended in communal spaces, even personal property of residents, like a giant 300 pound organ that made its’ way INTO the dumpster within two hours of its’ temporarily necessary "mis-placement"…for sample example! 
 
Does it sound like we have any hope of defending ourselves?


  Can management be required to share the details of complaints against me?

Edited on: Tuesday, February 4th, 2014 6:32 am

One Response to “Burden of proof? I demand NO CAUSE explanation”

My response: (We welcome stories, examples, explanations, answers and a touch of your personality)
 

WR

February 14th, 2014 2:17 pm

Read your lease.

Usually on a M2M lease your landlord can terminate the agreement with a simple 30 day notice. No explanation is required and often LLs do not offer up an explanation because it causes more problem than it solves.

In your case you have a 60 day termination notice. You can try and fight it, but your lease probably states that the LL can terminate with this amount of notification.

Was it related to your painting of the door? Possibly. But it could be just as possible that the LL is vacating the unit to turn it into something else. It is their property.

The PM was probably acting unprofessionally when she attempted to offer up an explanation. Like it was stated before, if your lease says the LL can terminate with a 60 day notice, then they do not need a reason at all, which is the reason they did you a favor and gave you a no cause notification. A For Cause notification would probably hurt your ability to rent in the future.


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