A Judge Has Ruled In Favor Of A Woman Who Has Refused To Leave The Guest House Of A $3.8M California Mansion She’s Been Renting, Despite Overstaying Her Welcome By 540 Days Without Paying

Folks, we've got ourselves a good ol' fashioned western standoff between a rich, world renowned California dentist and a conniving woman who has refused to leave his guesthouse that he was renting out on Airbnb. Let's properly introduce our fighters. 

In one corner we've got an Airbnb renter named Elizabeth Hirschhorn who has refused to move out of a mansion's guesthouse that she rented out more than 540 days ago. She planned on staying from September 13, 2021 to March 19, 2022 for a total of 187 nights at $105 a night. That would run her $19,833 total. She then extended her stay 24 additional days. After that time expired she refused to leave and has been there ever since. 

In the other corner we have a rich dentist named Sascha Jovanovic. He rented out the guesthouse of his mansion on Airbnb. Turns out he did not have a certificate of occupancy for his residence and also didn't register it properly. The law states his mansion was not a legal rental so the woman should not have been charged anything in the first place. For the last year this woman has been living on his property just a few feet from where his family sleeps, rent-free, and there's nothing legally he can do about it. 

Here's how Jovanovic lost control…

Things turned hostile when Jovanovic went to fix the electronic blinds in his guesthouse after receiving a complaint from Hirschhorn. When he was inside the property, he noticed there was mold and water damage around the sink, which he claimed were not there before her stay.

Jovanovic claims he offered to pay for a hotel for Hirschhorn to stay in while he fixed the damages, but she refused and said, 'I don’t feel safe being forced to vacate with a housing disability and the high risks of COVID-19 complications.' 

She also cited LA County's COVID-19 regulations at the time as well as a medical note proving she had chemical sensitivities.

After her refusal, Jovanovic offered her a stay in his own home - which she also declined because of her sensitivities to cats. Now, Hirschhorn is counter-suing her host she has claimed that he 'inappropriately invited' her to move into his house with him, according to the LA times.

Ridiculous, but what really screws Jovanovic here is California law about this sort of thing. 

A new California law prevents landlords from evicting tenants without a legal reason, and with the facility being an unregistered rental, the legal standing remains murky.

The dentist can't evict her from his property because she qualified for LA's recently adopted Just Cause Ordinance after staying the unit for over six months. The new legislation requires landlord's to have a legal reason to evict tenants.

A judge has ruled that Jovanovic has no legal reason to evict her under the city's rent stabilization ordinance. 

I don't want to sound too brash, but that law fucking blows. Who on Earth would vote that into society? I've always heard of squatter's rights, but never really knew what they entailed. After hearing this I'd be terrified to ever rent out a single property based off that shit. Where is any common sense? 

I'll say this though, when you decide to rent out part of your property for a long period of time, you must make sure you know all the laws and are following everything by the book. California law clearly seems to favor tenants more than landlords. One small misstep and you basically lose your home. I don't understand how, but that's the reality we're in. Don't get me wrong, this woman sucks, but he fucked himself not dotting hit i's and crossing his t's. 

Now he's gotta deal with this woman 24/7. She's the captain now. 

Hirschhorn and Jovanovic are now living just steps away from each other as enemies and neighbors.

They argued like neighbors over mail and loud music and Jovanovic said his family doesn't sleep well anymore because his stubborn house- guest's door is a few feet away from his daughter's bedroom. He told LA Times: 'Psychologically, it affects you. It never leaves my mind.'

The only thing that continues to creep into my brain is the Ben Stiller/Drew Barrymore movie Duplex. If I'm Jovanovic I study that like game film and use some of the ideas, more specifically the ones in the clip below. 

If you don't want to go that far I feel like there are several other feasible options to get her gone. 

Option 1- I assume she leaves the premises at some point to go food shopping, get her nails done, terrorize other people, etc. There's no way she stays in that guest house 24/7 365. The moment she leaves you change the locks. Sure you can't legally evict her, but it's still your property. Lock her out. Simple enough, no? What is she going to do then? 

Option 2 - Shutdown all of her utilities. Lights, water, electricity, you name it. Again, unless I'm misunderstanding this, it's still your house. Make her life a living hell and force her out. 

Option 3- Sell the house and move elsewhere. Just don't show any of the potential buyers the guest house. 

Option 4- Burn the house down. Whether you get to collect insurance or not, you can't allow this woman to win with her loophole squatter's rights. 

I look forward to someone making this debacle into a movie. The script writes itself. Cast Jason Bateman as the dentist, Jennifer Lawrence as the crazy woman, and Nick Offerman as the judge. Just like that you have yourself an Oscar-winning movie. You're welcome.