Landlord trashed my stuff

I came home from work today to discover that ALL of my personal property on my porch were missing. Not only mine but everyone in the complex except one tenant. The items were thrown into the trash and appear to be deliberately destroyed or damaged. This includes several items that are very valuable and part of my livelyhood. The only items left were plants. What rights and recourse do I have available? Can I do something about this?

There is a history with this property manager and his behavior. He charges an outrageous late fee and deposit. Involves his personal opinion in his conversations with tenants and feels free to discuss other tenants private business with them. He is reluctant to fix any problems in the units such as plumbing or pests invading (ants). He plays games with the parking spaces allotted to the tenants, changing who gets the privilige to park where according to what he decides is the protocol. I could list many more unprofessional and difficult behavior and instances but I believe you get the idea.
This particular instance was vendictive and malicious in nature. There was no notice provided to remove any items. None of the tenants received any notice of any kind regarding removing anything. Some of the tenants thought we were robbed while we were at work/school/etc. One tenant did witness the landlord removing and disposing of the items as she was returning from school. She saw that he was throwing out some furniture. She asked him, "are you throwing out our chairs?" He replied, "you guys don't seem to understand what you can and can't keep on this porch so I'm going to make it simple for you, you can't keep anything on the porch." She said, "but, we paid for this furniture, you can't just throw it out." He replied, "this stuff is trash and I'm throwing it in the dumpster." She also overheard him speaking on a cell phone and was telling someone, "these clowns think they can keep their stuff on the porch. It's trash, it's all trash." She did'nt know what to do about it so she went into her apt. to wait until someone else who lived in the building came home. When I returned home from work, she was outside speaking with another tenant about what happened and others were looking through the dumpsters in the alley for their stuff. This is not acceptable and several tenants have given 30 day notice of vacating the premises.

I want to move out also and feel that not only am I going to have a difficult time getting my huge deposit returned, ( I have been here 4 years and have never had anything replaced, repainted, cleaned, or repaired including the carpet and floor tiles in kitchen) but, I fear retaliation. I also believe that he will provide derogative reports to any perspective landlords as well as negatively affect my credit rating.
Four months ago,I recieved a notice listing 7 months of late fees due. 3 months from 2004 and 4 months from 2005. It also stated that failure to pay late charges will result in rent increases or rental termination. When I called him regarding this notice, I asked him why he didn't notify me of the late fees on the months that they occurred. (I know that I've mailed the payments on time but don't know when he receives them.) He told me that "I should have just known". He also told me, "you wouldn't have a problem if you just mailed the rent ahead of time, oh yeah, that means you have to be ahead with your money don't you? And you're not. Maybe you're spending you money somewhere else. I'm ahead with my money. I don't care what the excuse is, maybe you need a better job." I was so astounded that he was telling me this that I had no response.
About two weeks later, he had a new tenant come to our door and inform us that he told her that "the parking spot we were using was now hers and to stop parking there and if we had a problem with this to give him a call." I did. He told me that because of the late fees that we owed, that the parking space would no longer be ours and when we paid them we could discuss the issue when the space became available again. (meaning when the tenant moved out) That same week, another tenant came to me and stated that he had told her that we owed him money so he was going to deal with us by giving the space to the new tenant She said that his tone was condesending and boastful. When the other tenants realized that the space that we were entitled to through seniority (which was how he previously determined who parked in the space) was denied they requested the space. They were also denied. When they questioned him as to why the new tenant was given the space instead, he told them various reasons such as they were late with their rent and havent paid their fee or that they had violated some part of the agreement, etc.)

I have requested receipts for rental payments and he has never provided a receipt. I have tried to keep this relationship at a professional and civil level. I avoid any interaction involving personal matters even when he has made inappropriate and personal statements during conversations I've had with him regarding tenant matters.
Now, he has stolen and destroyed my personal property and I feel that this is not acceptable. I have wanted to give my notice and find another residence, but felt that he would destroy my opportunities by black listing me to property management companies. I also feel he will attempt to financially cripple me by delaying the return of my deposit, or attempt to keep the money for another reason such as damage charges or late fees past due or whatever. This is crazy. Please help me find some resolution to this, I just want to live in peace-somewhere else.
For your information and research: I live in San Diego, CA.
Thanks for any advice or information you can provide. Thank you for your time and efforts to assist me with this. I am most grateful for your help.

First of all, let me say that I did not read the entirety of this post due to its size... :-) However, I think I understand the larger issue you are talking about, but please correct me if I am stating something that is untrue...

If you were considered evicted by your tenent, the landlord is entitled to remove your posessions. Although this typically means removing the posessions to a reasonably safe place (e.g., placing your items outside your door, in the yard, etc.), one could argue that the items were removed in this manner, but than taken by an unknown third party to the trash. It's a very gray area...

The solution? Don't get evicted; don't be late with your payments. This goes to be said for anything, from rent to credit cards to utility bills. At the same time, bear in mind that a rental is a two way deal: you are obligated to pay your rent, and your landlord is obligated to ensure proper upkeep of the property. If your landlord does not do this and the result is starting to bother you, you can always consider moving elsewhere...

Hope this helps!

Brad