Otanez v. Blue Skies Mobile Home Park

Opinion

GILBERT, J.

A landlord may not terminate a tenant’s occupancy of his or her residence under a lease by shutting off the utility services. (Civ. Code, 1 § 789.3.)

We hold that a tenant need not live in the premises full-time in order to be a resident.

Here the owner of a mobilehome in Santa Barbara moved to Nevada but continued to pay rent for the space in which her mobilehome was located. Her landlord, through his property managers, discontinued the utilities to her mobilehome. She sued the landlord and property managers under section 789.3 and under a statute defining tenancy (§ 798.12).…