California landlord didn't provide lead paint, sex offender or pesticide information to tenant?
What are the penalties for a California landlord who does not provide the required disclosure notices such as lead paint notice, pesticide information, sex offender information, and mold information to a tenant? Can the failure of the landlord to provide this information be used as an affirmative defense in an eviction for nonpayment of rent or would the tenant be required to file a cross-complaint against the landlord for negligence or something else along those lines?
Answers:
Every day I give thanks that I don't have to live in Kalifornia. Did he also fail to warn you that wet surfaces can be slippery and gravity makes you fall down?
Is there lead paint? He shouldn't have to tell you unless there is!
Pesticide information, maybe.
Sex offender Information? Why is this his problem, I think it's yours.
Lead paint is not a California problem. That is an EPA problem. You can find the number for them in your area on the internet or in the phone book. Pesticides, unless it is a chemical that is banned is not a problem legally. Morally yes, legal no. Sex offenders, that is your problem. You should have done your own research on the area before moving there.
Instead of paying rent or leaving as requested, you want to stay for free because of a formality such and lead based paint disclosure? From what you've posted, none of these items has been an issue, you just want free room and board?
The landlord is not required to tell you about sex offenders in the area, that's up to you. As for the other hazards, if they don't exist in your rental unit, then you don't need to be notified of them.
Nothing, short of blantantly breaking your lease contract, is an affirmative defense for not paying your rent -- and sometimes even that doesn't work. The landlord can only be liable on a cross-complaint for negligence if there was something he was negligent about, and none of the examples you cited qualify.
The first thing the judge will want to know is if you put your rent in an escrow account under court supervision. If not, he will propably not even hear your defense. You didn't follow proper procedure on your complaints and therefore had no right to withhold rent. It's all outlined in your local landlord/tenant laws. Read up.
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