Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: California Tenant's right

If the landlord doesn't provide either you can seek a judgment in small claims court.

Re: California Tenant's right

There is a minor exception (at Civil Code section 1950.5(g)(3)) to the general 21-day rule set forth in 1950.5(g); also, courts would be inclined to rule in favor of a landlord who acted in good faith and was slowed up by factors beyond his, her or its control, such as the tenant not providing a forwarding address.

Also, the landlord's bad-faith delay does not merely entitle the former tenant to a 100% refund. The civil penalty for bad-faith failure to comply with 1950.5(g) is found in 1950.5(l) (that's a small letter "L" in the parentheses). The tenant may be entitled to actual damages plus twice the amount of the deposit if a refund and accounting are withheld in bad faith.

The law doesn't say what happens if there is no bad faith proven by the tenant/plaintiff, but one would guess ordinary rules of damages for breach of a duty imposed by law would apply, and the tenant would be entitled only to proven actual damages, and no more.