07Dec
Even though laws exist to foster cooperation between Bay Area landlords and tenants, there are times when individuals may clash so bad that it can create a toxic environment where a tenant feels threatened by their landlord. If this happens to you, you probably feel scared, confused, and unsure what to do next.
An initial step is to identify the type of threats since it will affect how you deal with it.
Physically threatening behavior: If your landlord is acting out physically, such as using their body to block your entry or exit, getting in your face or intruding in your personal space, or putting hands on you then, it may be considered as something more associated with an assault.
Verbally threatening behavior: Your landlord can use "harsh" words to intimidate you or make threats in person, over the phone, or through writing, including text messages, emails, social media posts, or written letters.
Harassment
Under state and local law, it's considered harassment for a landlord to get a tenant to leave by using "force, willful threats, or menacing conduct" or by "threatening to disclose the citizenship status of the tenant or the tenant's guests."
Immediate Threats
If you're faced with a current physical threat, you have to act quickly to find an escape. This may even involve calling the authorities. Additionally, when your landlord lives with you or if there are shared spaces, and you're concerned with your immediate safety, you might try temporarily staying with family or friends. If don’t have anywhere to go, try reaching out to a domestic violence agency to help you into an emergency shelter.
The first priority is to get to safety and then you can concentrate on what to do next.
Your landlord is engaging in illegal behavior when they threaten or harass you. You have the right to be safe and to act against your landlord. A Wolford Wayne attorney has the experience and compassion to be on your side when it comes to tenants' rights issues. Get started with learning about what you can do. Contact us today.
Recovered on behalf of a group of 30 tenants living in an SRO in San Francisco who were living with horrendous conditions in their rent controlled apartments, including rodents, bedbugs, mold, water leaks and harassment.Read More
Recovered on behalf of three families living in a building in San Francisco’s SOMA neighborhood who were forced to live with substandard conditions for years as a result of their landlord’s negligence, including issues with lack of heat, lack of hot water and cockroach/rat infestations.Read More
Recovered on behalf of a couple living in a rent-controlled home in the outer Sunset neighborhood. Our clients were forced to vacate after the landlord served them with an Owner Move-In Eviction Notice. After the landlords failed to move into the property, our clients filed suit for wrongful eviction.Read More
Recovered on behalf of a San Francisco tenant in Russian Hill. Tenant was forced to vacate her illegal apartment in retaliation for reporting unlawful rent increases to the San Francisco Rent Board.Read More
Recovered for a single long-term tenant in San Francisco. Our client was forced to move out of his apartment as a result of extreme landlord harassment.Read More
Recovered on behalf of three long-term tenants in San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood who were constructively evicted due to noise and nuisance conditions created by their downstairs neighbors, which the owner refused to address.Read More
Recovered on behalf of elderly, disabled tenant who was forced to move out of her rent-controlled San Francisco apartment of 50 years after landlord/owner failed to resolve numerous building code violations that remained outstanding for over a decade.Read More
Recovered on behalf of seven tenants living in a makeshift boarding house in East Palo Alto.Read More
Recovered on behalf of two former San Francisco tenants who were evicted via an Owner Move-In Eviction and owner failed to occupy the unit as her primary place of residence.Read More
Recovered on behalf of an elderly long-term tenant who was forced to vacate her long San Francisco apartment as a result of her landlord’s refusal to address longstanding defective conditions, including lack of heat, mold, rodent infestations, and defective plumbing. Read More
Recovered on behalf of a San Francisco tenant who was forced to vacate his home as a result of ongoing, disruptive construction and the owners’ refusal to provide him with alternative housing. Read More
Recovered on behalf of a San Francisco family that was constructively evicted from their home in the Richmond District as a result of unlawful rent increases, defective conditions and tenant harassment.Read More
Recovered on behalf of a tenant living in an illegal “in-law” unit. In this case, a new owner purchased the building and then demolished our client’s unit without permits while she was displaced for seismic retrofitting.Read More
Recovered on behalf of two long term San Francisco tenants who were fraudulently evicted from their home of over twenty years under the pretext of an owner move-in eviction.Read More
Recovered for tenant who was injured when their stairway railing collapsed at the tenant’s Mission District apartment building.Read More
Recovered in action for a group of tenants forced to vacate their San Francisco apartment house due to severe habitability defects including mold and water leaks.Read More
For more information or to discuss your legal situation, call us today at (415) 649-6203 for a phone consultation or submit an inquiry below. Please note our firm can only assist tenants residing in San Francisco, Oakland & Berkeley.