Q
I have lived in my apartment for just over three months and I thought everything was going well until last week. That is when I started noticing itchy bumps on my body in the morning. When I showed them to my friend, he told me I had bedbugs. When I contacted my manager and showed her the bites on my arms, she refused to accept responsibility and produced a “Bedbug Addendum” that I had signed as part of my lease. She said that this addendum completely waived my right to hold the management responsible for any bedbug problem. Then she said I would have to pay for professional extermination services at my own expense.
Does this Bedbug Addendum relieve my landlord of all responsibility for my bedbug infestation? I have had a positive relationship with my on-site manager. She doesn’t complain if I am a day late with rent and she previously arranged to have my leaking sink fixed. However, the bedbug bites combined with a huge potential extermination bill is really stressing me.
A
A landlord has a duty to provide habitable premises to all tenants including you. Under California Civil Code 1953, a tenant cannot be required to waive the landlord’s duty of habitability, regardless of whether the purported waiver is incorporated in the rental agreement. California Civil Code section 1941.1 includes rental premises free from “rodents” and “vermin” within the landlord’s duty of habitability. In our opinion, bedbugs fall squarely within the definition of vermin.
On the other hand, tenants also have duties, including the duty to report habitability problems promptly, so that bigger and more expensive problems can be avoided. The tenant also has a duty to avoid causing the habitability problem. Therefore, if you brought the bedbugs into the unit or you noticed the infestation and delayed reporting it, you could be held responsible for the infestation.
You should read this addendum to your rental agreement very carefully. If the language purports to waive any of the duties imposed on the landlord under California law, it should not be enforceable. If the language merely reflects your legal responsibility and that of the landlord as outlined above, it is “legal” but it cannot be used to assert a waiver of the landlord’s duty to you.
Given your manager’s response to your complaint, make sure you have stated your complaint in writing and reference the date you verbally notified her, in order to document that you met your duty of notice, and in the same writing, request that landlord honor its duty to promptly remedy the infestation. If she continues to refuse, contact your local fair housing or mediation program, or Project Sentinel.
Disabled tenant can use co-signer?
Q
I was severely injured in a car accident. As a result, I am in a lot of pain and unable to work. Social Security accepted my claim and I now receive disability payments on a monthly basis. Unfortunately, this is my only income and I am on a very tight budget.
I recently began looking for a new, cheaper rental unit, but have encountered a problem. Most property owners require tenants to earn at least three times the monthly rent. Because of my inability to work due to my disability, there is no way I can meet this standard.
I’ve asked a few owners if my mother, who is much better off financially, could co-sign for me, but they’ve all said that they have a policy against co-signers. I’m afraid I’m not going to find a new apartment. Am I entitled to a co-signer? Is there anything I can do?
A
Both federal and state Fair Housing laws prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability. As part of this prohibition, housing providers are required to grant prospective and in-place tenants reasonable accommodations when requested. According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, a reasonable accommodation is a change to a policy, practice or service that is necessary to afford persons with disabilities an equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling.
Based on your situation, it appears that the only reason you do not meet the minimum income requirement is because you are disabled and limited to your Social Security disability income as a result. While the housing provider does not have to waive his minimum income requirement, you can ask him to waive his co-signer policy for you as a reasonable accommodation. This is because your disability is directly tied to your income level. Waiving the co-signer policy would therefore give you equal access to the apartment of your choice. Having a co-signer provides assurance to the landlord that you will be able to pay the rent, which is the housing provider’s fundamental reason for having a minimum income requirement.
Please note that the housing provider can place the same requirements on your co-signer that he would if she were an actual prospective tenant. This means that you and your co-signer must jointly meet the owner’s income requirement, and that you may both need to undergo a credit check. The property owner has no obligation to accept a financially unstable co-signer.
Project Sentinel provides landlord-tenant dispute resolution and fair-housing services in Northern California, including rental housing mediation programs in Mountain View, Los Altos and Palo Alto. Call 650-856-4062 for dispute resolution or 650-321-6291 for fair housing, email info@housing.org or visit housing.org.
