Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

Contrary to the responses given on http://www.lawguru.com/legal-questions/california-real-estate/late-rental-fees-rent-residential-183982797/a , I note that the California Civil Code cited by attorney Ken Koenen is actually quite unambiguous! Clause (c) says landlords are not allowed to enforce any grace period _shorter_ than 7 days. More importantly, clause (e) states that the late fee MAY NOT EXCEED $5 under any conditions.

I only recently discovered this, and I am disgusted. Cities across the state are committing a civil crime by having their housing offices dispense incorrect information to landlords and tenants about this matter.

If only all the tenants in California could get their overcharged late fees back, with me receiving a 1% commission as reward, we'd all be happier campers.

Anybody disagree with me? Lawyers, why have you been falling down on this for years?


Asked on 9/06/10, 3:23 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

You are simply wrong and so is Koenen. You can't read a single paragraph of a single code section and thing you know the law. Section 1812.626(c) is part of the California Rental-Purchase Act. It only applies to "rent to own" contracts of personal property, like TV's and furniture. It has absolutely NOTHING to do with rentals of real property. So what you should be disgusted with is that lawyers like Koenen are allowed to give such pathetically wrong legal information to an unsuspecting public.

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Answered on 9/14/10, 1:04 am


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