Plaintiff is in violation of the COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act
Form SC-100 (Plaintiff’s Claim and Order to go to Small Claims Court) contains a section that guides Plaintiffs seeking COVID-19 rental debt. The form specifies that a Plaintiff seeking COVID-19 rental debt should not use form SC-100 but form SC-500. In this case, Plaintiff is seeking a COVID-19 rental debt. However, Plaintiff used form SC-100. The rules expressly specify the form to be used. It follows; Plaintiff is in violation of said rules, hence the complaint should be denied.
Plaintiff is also in violation of CA Civ Pro Code § 1179.03(1), which provides guidelines for a notice for demand of payment. Said section states in pertinent part that: “A notice which does not meet the requirements of this section, regardless of when the notice was issued, shall not be sufficient to establish a cause of action for unlawful detainer or a basis for default judgment.” (Emphasis added). Plaintiff never sent a Notice that, at least, was compliant with the rules set forth in CA Civ Pro Code § 1179.03(1). Plaintiff’s complaint does not therefore sufficiently raise a cause of action against Defendant.
Plaintiff is further in violation of CA Civ Pro Code § 1179.04(a), which provides that: “If you failed to make rental payments due between March 1, 2020, and August 31, 2020, because you had decreased income or increased expenses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as described above, you cannot be evicted based on this nonpayment.” (Emphasis added) Said section prevents Plaintiff from evicting Defendant based on COVID-19 rental debt. Plaintiff has made several threats to Defendant, including threat of evicting Defendant from the storage unit. Plaintiff’s threats of eviction are barred by CA Civ Pro Code § 1179.04(a).
Lastly, according to CA Civ Pro Code § 1179.06, Plaintiff cannot claim any waiver of the applicability of the COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act. Said section provides that: “Any provision of a stipulation, settlement agreement, or other agreement entered into on or after the effective date of this chapter, including a lease agreement, that purports to waive the provisions of this chapter is prohibited and is void as contrary to public policy. Therefore, Plaintiff cannot allege that Defendant waived the applicability of the COVID-19 rental debt.
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