Ridiculous

I absolutely agree!! I stopped this movie after the police paid a visit. I tell you, if this is California law, I NEVER want to move to California. I've watched enough People's Court to know nothing in this movie makes sense!! Yes, it was against the law for him to shut off power and heat; that much is true. The officer said, "Whether he has a lease or not, he's still a tenant." ABSURD!! He has a right to change the locks? Who owns the building? The tenant? He doesn't own the place!! He's RENTING the apartment. The landlord has a right to enter the apartment in case of an emergency or to do repairs. Changing the locks is illegal. Drake has a right to start eviction proceedings. No rent has been paid. Keaton ADMITS there was a problem with the money. GO TO SMALL CLAIMS COURT!! You don't have to mess with attorneys!! There's landlord/tenant court, go through evictions!! This is the biggest piece of crap I've ever seen.

YOU PEOPLE OBVIOUSLY LIVE WITH YOUR PARENTS. Do you know anything about tenant rights? Do you own any buildings? I do. And I can tell you that this movie is in many ways very accurate. Do you know that all you need to do is receive a piece of mail at a house to be considered a resident? Keaton WAS invited into the house under the assumption that he paid deposit, so I'm not sure why you think it's trespassing. Or that the police have no power in evicting tenants? Never mind the fact that actually evicting a tenant can take months, and ALWAYS results in losses for the manager/owner. That's why it's so tough renting in California, especially L.A. or S.F. The rental application, background checks, credit checks, cosigners... all because of variations on tenant behavior that has been displayed in this movie.

This movie was ridiculous from beginning to end. So, some random person can go into someone's house, lock himself into a room, and be considered a tenant?

Dear Lagger7,
Sadly, this movie is not as "ridiculous" as one would like to believe. The laws, both civil and criminal, have everything to do with bureacratic procedures and inflexible iron-clad rules, they have little or nothing to do with "fairness". The "losers" in our society are those individuals who naively assume that the law has got something to do with fair-play, honesty and good faith. The guys who end up getting obscenely rich are the sleazebags and psychopaths who know how to exploit and manipulate the flaws in our legal system to their own advantage.
You sound like a nice person, I hope to God that you never have to learn the hard way just how unfair, predatory and basically evil some people are.
john

Yes, it is ridiculous but so are your comments. You think you know so much, however, you are painfully ignorant, lagger7. TENANTS RIGHTS! Learn it. Love it and live it. Welcome to the world of Democrats, the swine who advocate this garbage BS and pervert and twist the law to punish law abiding citizens in favor of the scum and dregs of society.

If you were an intelligent person, you wouldn't support Democrats but it is obvious you vote for politicians who enact ridiculous legislation, such as TENANTS RIGHTS. The only thing here more ridiculous than your comments...
...is you!

Now, go slap yourself, you bumbling ignoramus!

In truth, though the OP has taken lots of abuse over the last couple of years, what he writes is mostly accurate. To begin, California Tenant Law includes (at: http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/landlordbook/living-in.shtml) that: As a tenant, you must take reasonable care of your rental unit and any common areas that you use. You must also repair all damage that you cause, or that is caused by anyone for whom you are responsible, such as your family, guests, or pets. These important tenant responsibilities are discussed in more detail under "Dealing with Problems".

As for Hayes'/Keaton's "eviction":

It's very important for you to pay your rent on the day it's due. Not paying on time might lead to a negative entry on your credit report, late fees, and even eviction.

Source: California Department of Consumer Affairs

There's much more, but this "worst case" scenario is not simply absurd, I imagine that it would almost be impossible to pull off. Not to say that there aren't those who abuse tenant/landlord laws--there are -- but, as a landlord several times over, this incident in Pacific Heights looked then and looks now like way over the top.

You are ALMOST right. Had they called the cops in the very beginning for trespassing, this movie would not exist. HOWEVER, it doesn't make the movie ridiculous. They were new landlords up against a very seasoned con artist. When Griffith first sees the man in the apartment, she is not going to call the cops because she is not sure of the agreement he made with her husband. So then when she talks to the husband, they start to realize that something isn't right. I hardly think their very first thought is "OH MY GOD THIS GUY IS GONNA MOVE INTO OUR PLACE, NEVER PAY RENT, DESTROY IT AND TRY TO KILL US!!!" No. They are going to approach the guy and ask what going on. He will come up with delay tactics like "Yes, I submitted the paperwork for the bank transfer (we all know bank transfers can take a few days)". After a reasonable amount of time, the landlord can't get payment or figure out a way to get this guy out. So he turns off the utilities which is where the real problem begins. It's very easy to explain to the cop that there is simply a delay in the payment reaching the landlord. Now it's starting to look just like your average tenant-landlord dispute. No way is a cop going to just side with the landlord. A judge will have to decide. Keaton knows he will be thrown out eventually....but he is just delaying it as long as possible..which is what this movie is about.

now . All I have to do is go find a place I want to live in my old neighborhood in CA , look at it , sneak back in when no one is looking and I'll have the place I want . I wish I would've known so I wouldn't have been stuck here in Las Vegas for the last 20 years !