Can your utilities be shut off & what to do if they do

Tenant Tip Tuesday_Responding to an Unlawful Detainer / Eviction (For California Tenants) ************** We continue from last week's them on EVICTIONS. Today's Tenant Tip is about is about what to do if owners/managers shut off your utilities in retaliation or trying to evict you. Tenant Tips: 1. It is illegal...against the law...for owners/managers to shut off your utilities in retaliation or if they are trying to evict you. 2. If your utilities are shut off in retaliation, then your recourse is to sue them for up to $100/day in small claims court. 2a. Even when they are shutting off utilities for repairs and maintenance, you as a tenant should be compensated for not having use of the utilities. ************** The process of an Eviction or Unlawful Detainer: After receiving a 30, 60, or other type of notice, the owner usually files for an unlawful detainer (UD) action at the local court. Once it is filed, they are required to serve the tenant (you) properly. Properly means they should deliver the UD in person and mail it to the tenant using US Postal Service. However, that is not how it is typically done. Typically, a tenant will receive the UD by it being posted on the front door (a conspicuous place) and/or mailed to the tenant. And to ensure that the tenant is informed that a UD action has been filed, the court will also send a copy in the mail to the tenant's address. Upon receiving the UD, a tenant has 5 business days to respond to the lawsuit. The 5 days does not include holidays or weekends. It is upon receiving the UD that we highly recommend that the tenant seek legal help...an attorney. If in LA County, there are free legal services through Stay Housed LA or if someone needs to seek free/low-cost legal help, we can help them find someone to represent them. The attorney will then typically file the response to the lawsuit. A tenant is able to respond themselves and courthouse's usually have free legal help services to assist a tenant in responding. Remember, it is very important to respond to a UD because if you don't, you will lose the case by default. Seek legal help! Be sure to share this out and subscribe to our channel! **** Remember, WE ARE BETTER TOGETHER, WE ARE STRONGER TOGETHER! Get together with your neighbors and advocate As always, if you're in Southern CA and you need some counseling, give us a call at (888) 758-8516.