A Korean-American landlord says he’s lost $10,000 in seven months of illegal occupancy by another Korean-American tenant.
Lim, who is a Long Beach resident, shared his experience and damages on Facebook, recounting the nightmare in an interview with the Korea Daily.
Lim rented a unit in March to a renter surnamed Lee, who contacted him after seeing the rental advertisement. She said she was planning to move to Florida in April and asked him if she could stay for only a month, hoping to move in the same day without a background check or security deposit because it would be a short-term stay. Lim felt sympathy for him, so he agreed to let Lee move in without a contract. The rent was $750 per month.
The problems started a month later. In April, a new tenant was scheduled to move in, but Lee refused to move out. She said her plan to move to Florida had been canceled, and she wanted to stay for two more weeks. Lim received a written memo from Lee stating that she would be held responsible if she didn’t move out by April 13, but she again failed to keep her promise.
Lim later hired a lawyer and started the eviction process, which took six months in total. The lawyer’s fees were around $2,000, and the legal process alone took more than three months. In July, the court issued an eviction order, but Lee continued to live there. It wasn’t until October 20, three months later again, that the Sheriffs came to enforce eviction. The seven months cost Lim about $10,000 in damages.
“People should be especially wary of people looking for a place to live who say they’re only going to be there for a short time, and they take advantage of the fact that the law requires at least six months for an eviction order,” he said.
“If you let them in without a proper background check or signing a contract, it can get really ugly,” said Lim, adding, “They need to have a job or property to be sued, but if they don’t have anything, it’s hard to hold them accountable.”
After the eviction, the interior of the house turned into a big mess. The room was full of garbage and overrun with cockroaches. The refrigerator was full of rotten food, and the walls had multiple holes in them. Before Lee moved in, the water bill averaged $80 to $90 a month, but it soared to $500 during his stay. “He left the water running 24 hours a day, which made the water department suspect a pipe problem,” Lim said.
“The police told me that his things were still there and he could legally come and pick them up once within 15 days even after he was deported,” he added, “and I still can’t start any cleaning or repair.”
Comments on social media expressed astonishment and sympathy for Lim’s situation. Some Korean-Americans expressed shock, saying, “That’s horrible,” and “This is the kind of story you see on TV,” while others said, “Thank God it’s over now.”
BY YOONJAE JUNG, HOONSIK WOO [woo.hoonsik@koreadaily.com]
