My landlord would not accept my rent after I gave her our notice to vacate

Our landlord came by for the rent and our notice to vacate. I told her we were only paying half the rent and she could keep our damage deposit for the other half and that the house would be clean and ready for next tenants to move in. She looked at cheque and said I cannot accept this, I need all the rent and then she tossed my rent cheque on my floor. She came back 15 minutes later with an eviction notice for non-payment of rent. I offered her the cheque again, she said no. She then came back 2 hours later with a notice that she would be showing the place the next day from 11:28am-5:30pm. This is a long weekend to boot. I took it and then I went out to her car and told her and her husband she could not come tomorrow and go in the basement suite( we rent the whole house and sublet the basement suite), due to the fact that the tenants were camping for the weekend. Her husband said we will do as we choose, we have the keys. The notice says we have 5 days to pay the rent, or move out in 10 days. Please anyone who knows what sort of action we should take, I would greatly appreicate. I plan on sitting in front of basement entrance to make sure that they do not enter. And I will charge them should either of them touch me. Please help, we do not know what we should do to protect ourselves. I live in british columbia

Consult a lawyer who is an expert in renting laws in your state/country. Or you could research the laws yourself.

You are obligated to pay the full amount of rent. Your deposit covers damages to the apartment, not rent costs. If any of this ends up in court, you will have to pay huge penalties to the landlord. You are completely in the wrong, and I strongly suggest you fix your actions (and your attitude) before you dig yourself into a big legal mess.

call the police if they show up on your property.

Well...you are in the wrong

California law gives landlords very few rights. By failing to pay the entire rent

(In landlords defense, if she were to accept 1/2 rent plus security for the rent and you were to fail to leave the property in pristine condition, she's out 1/2 of the rent ... if the security deposit even covers the cleaning, repairs, etc. It's one of the few defenses she has. You were creative, but not within the law to fail to pay the rent. I understand that it all equals the same amount IF you leave it in rent-able condition but most landlords can't trust their tenants to do so.)

... you violated the terms of your rental agreement and are subject to eviction.

HOWEVER you do have the 5/10 days and if they are on the property (as defined by your rental agreement) during that time, they are guilty of trespass. Call the police and notify them that your landlord is trespassing and disturbing the peace - they'll come out and help. Have the notice to quit on hand to show them.

Your landlord knew you were giving her a notice to vacate. You have an obligation to pay the full rent. You do NOT have the right to only pay half of your rent.

You must provide your landlord with a cheque in the full amount of the rent. Your landlord has the right to show the house if they provide you with notice at least the day before, unless it states otherwise in your lease. Also, when you sublet your basement, you had to inform your subtenant of the same.

You must pay the full rent immediately. You must allow full access to the house for showing. Chances are, they will go over the home with a fine tooth comb looking for damage. You probably lost your damage deposit.

In most states you cannot offer up your damage deposit as part of your last month's rent. what proof do you have that it won't be damaged????? Also I believe that the landlord only needs to give you a 24 hours notice to be able to go into the premises. Nothing says you can't be down in the basement while they are showing it. (I would try to get ahold of the sub-leasee to let them know what is going on, they actually do not have any rights at this point) Try www.findlaw.com they have laws by state.

It depends on the wording of your lease. Do they have a stipulation that they may have access to the property while you are renting it? If they do, then you have to let them in. If they do not, then they can not legally be in the property as long as you are there. You can not decide to pay half the rent. You must pay all of it, unless the landlord agrees to accept half. So you're wrong on that issue. Check the laws. Mail her a check for the full rent amount. Keep the partial payment check as your proof that you tried to do this amicably. Keep the letters that she sent you. When you do vacate the premises, take photos of the condition of the place so that you have proof of how clean it is. It would be beneficial to have someone you trust-not a relative-come view the premises after you move out so that you have a witness that you left it in good condition. If she is so quick to evict you, then I see this getting nasty. You can kiss your deposit good bye, and will probably end up in court to get it back. So document everything, and save it all.