My wife and I are one year into a 3 year rental lease in S California,
we  discovered that  our land lord who is the mortgage holder does not
own the house. Her sister could not get a mortgage so the land lord
pretended to buy the house to get a mortgage even though she is not
the owner. We are concerned about this,we have already had to threaten
legal action to get repairs carried out to the AC unit. Is this enough
for us to break our lease without legal action being taken by the
landlord/owners against us?

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Request for Question Clarification by cynthia-ga on 27 Sep 2006 17:45 PDT

Are you getting receipts for your rent every month? If so, you should
research the Landlord tenant Statutes in your community. Ask for
repairs IN WRITING, AND on the phone, in other words call, then send a
letter with the postmark the same day you call. Then, simply follow
the statutes for time limits on repairs.

Be sure to get rent receipts, in case the owner/non-owner is
squandering the money and it's not actually going to the land/building
owner.

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Clarification of Question by eamon_cat-ga on 28 Sep 2006 16:08 PDT

As far as I am aware the sister who "owns" the house is not on paper
as having anything to do with the property, all mortgage and property
tax related mail comes to our address and is in the landlords name not
the owner. We thought this was strange and when it came to getting
repairs done to the AC our landlord, ( the sister with the mortgage)
could do anything without the owners permission, (the other
sister)this took six weeks and a lot of grief. We have also heard from
a mutual friend that the ownership of the house is not entirely above
board and that the LLord and Owner panicked when we threaten legal
action incase this was discovered. We just feel uncomfortable with
this whole inadequate arrangement and want out.

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Clarification of Question by eamon_cat-ga on 28 Sep 2006 16:11 PDT

We got recepits for the first 2 months then nothing since, we request
all repairs and requests for recepits in writing, keep a copy
ourselves and give a copy to someone else a mutual friend.

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Clarification of Question by eamon_cat-ga on 28 Sep 2006 16:17 PDT

We are legal aliens and do not want to get caught up in a possible
fraud investigation incase this delays or hinders any future visa
applications on our part. We have offered to meet with all parties to
talk about this as the last thing I want to do is just walk out on
these people even though they have been really bad L.lords. We gave
them six weeks notice of our intentions and asked them to contact us
ASAP to discuss this (recorded delivery which they got two days later)
It took them 2 weeks to contact us and it will be a further 5 days
until they will meet with us.

This a free comment, not an "answer" to your question.

Do I understand correctly:  
The one sister is still on the county real estate records as the
owner;  the other sister has taken the mortgage, and presumably there
is a lien on the property for this mortgage?
This is information that can be confirmed by an inspection of the
county's real estate records, perhaps online.  If there is any doubt
about this, with the name of the county, we can tell you if and how it
is possible to access the records online.
The second sister would not have had to pretend to buy the property to
get a mortgage with a lien on the property, if the owner agreed to the
lien.
This is not illegal.
The sister who took the mortgage signed the lease contract with you
without identifying herself as agent for the owner, correct?

Unfortunately, it is not unusual to have to threaten legal action to
get repairs made, but you were successful, setting a precedence if
further repairs should become necessary.  Is this your concern and
reason for wanting to break the lease?  It can happen elsewhere.

Please not that anything posted here is not legal advice, as you can
read in the disclaimer below.  Also note that the email notification
system is defunct, so you will have to check yourself to see if
comments or an answer are posted.

As long as you have a place to live that is provided as agreed upon
and the "illegal" activity does not jepordize you what would be your
basis for breaking the lease?  If the issue is repairs find out what
your town ordinances cover as they pertain to repairs.  If you want
out of lease negotiate that with the landlord.

As far as I am aware the sister who "owns" the house is not on paper
as having anything to do with the property, all mortgage and property
tax related mail comes to our address and is in the landlords name not
the owner. We thought this was strange and when it came to getting
repairs done to the AC our landlord, ( the sister with the mortgage)
could do anything without the owners permission, (the other
sister)this took six weeks and a lot of grief. We have also heard from
a mutual friend that the ownership of the house is not entirely above
board and that the LLord and Owner panicked when we threaten legal
action incase this was discovered. We just feel uncomfortable with
this whole inadequate arrangement and want out.

Type-o I ment to say that the L.Lord could NOT do any repairs without
the owners permission. We also believe that they are not declaring the
property as a rental and that the mortgage company thinks that the
mortgage holder lives at our address.

Greetings Eamon_cat-ga
Thanks for the update.
If the property tax papers are in the name of the landlord (landlady),
that is pretty clear evidence that she is the owner on record.  The
county real estate records are the true information.  This seems to
rule out the other sister's being the owner, but perhaps they both are
on record as joint owners or as tenants in common with the papers
addressed to just the one sister.  "Tenants in common" does not mean
that they have to be residents on the property.
As I mentioned before, it may be possible to clarify this online  - by
you with our help, if you tell us the county; or, if you give the
address, by someone here, if the county records are online.

A bank or mortgage company would normally be happy to know that the
property was being rented, since that would be a source of income to
help meet the mortgage payments.  It is unusual that the mortgage and
tax mail is being sent to your address, but that does not have to be
suspicious; the owner/landlady/mortgagee may just be sloppy about
getting the address changed after purchasing the place.  For the tax
papers, in California this is very easy, the person just needs to
enter the correct address on the envelope included for paying the tax.

I understand your wanting to avoid any kind of problems as legal
aliens, but from the way I understand the situation, you as lessees
would not be involved, since you only have to meet the terms of the
lease contract.

Of course, if you really want to break the lease, none of this answers
your question, and you will need local legal advice from someone with
access to more information than we have.  Note the disclaimer below.

Personally  - as a layman with a little experience in Cal. real estate
-  I see no need for you to want to move or grounds to justify
breaking the lease,
but I may be wrong.

I sincerely hope that someone can give you more solid information,
maybe on the basis of details from the county records, if you want to
provide more information.

Let us know, and do consider talking to a lawyer.

Regards, Myoarin