By Melanie Pearce, Staff Attorney, Housing Unit
Our client, Jessica (fictitious name), is a middle-aged disabled woman who lived alone in a two-bedroom unit located in Costa Mesa since May 2022. It was an affordable housing unit where she received rental supplement through the Department of Developmental Services. Her portion of the $1,560 monthly rent was $524. She had a lot to lose if she was evicted.
In April 2023, Jessica received a 3 Day Notice to Perform or Quit. The allegations included violations of lease terms: parking in unassigned space, unauthorized occupant, unauthorized pet, excessive noise, and potentially illegal conduct (due to an incident where police “allegedly arrested” people at the community). Housing Unit paralegal Liberty Russell and I teamed up to defend Jessica with the following arguments:
- Plaintiff waived their right to pursue the action, because they accepted rent after the Notice expired.
- Plaintiff cannot prove breach of lease term for a mere trivial breach,
- Plaintiff failed to show sufficient facts that there was a nuisance or that illegal activity occurred at the property.
The case was going to trial, but we settled favorably for Jessica. She realized the poor relationship she had with management. She knew if she stayed, she would always be looking over her shoulder, as management would be watching her every move. Once the plaintiff agreed to paying for her to move out, Jessica was eager to do so, knowing she would have a more peaceful living space elsewhere.
In the stipulation, she had two months to move out, a waiver of holdover damages, she was able to keep her security deposit, and she also received $10,000 from the plaintiff.
CLA SoCal case managers stepped in and offered access to housing, food, and low-cost internet. Jessica said she didn’t need help applying for food stamps. Case managers provided assistance with securing housing. They were able to get a motel voucher for her and followed up vigilantly with her Supplemental Security Income (SSI) issue and contacted countless agencies to help her have a seamless transition to her new unit. They followed up routinely to make sure she would be out of her unit on time and secured a motel voucher between her move out date and move in date.
In the end, Jessica’s personal social services worker was able to find an affordable studio apartment in the same geographic area for her. Her move did not cause too much disruption. The timing worked out, and she is happy in her new home.
This case was particularly successful because the move out time was manageable for Jessica, she had options for alternative housing which she was open to taking, she was able to save money, and she was fortunate enough to find another similar apartment in the same area with the help of her social worker. It took team work to get the successful outcome for her.
