Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

Re: Eviction

It's hard to say whether or not $5000 is reasonable without knowing more about the situation - e.g., what the monthly rent was, how much time was left on the lease, whether or not your contract provided for attorney's fees, etc. $5000 sounds like it could be a little high but certainly not impossible if there was a lot of time left to run on the lease when you moved out - especially if you made the landlord go to court and start eviction proceedings to get you out.

If you and your sister both signed the lease, you are both liable to the landlord for the entire amount owed (which might or might not be $5000); if one of you pays the other's share, you can collect from the other sister. If you and your sister did not come up with an agreement between yourselves about how the rent, etc., would be split, then a 50/50 split sounds right if you were both on the lease. You could theoretically sue the third tenant for her share if you can find her, but that may be pretty difficult, and she may or may not have assets you can collect against.

The amounts owed could be discharged in bankruptcy, but that's a pretty big step to take over a relatively small debt.

My suggestion would be to negotiate with the landlord or the attorney regarding either a reduced payment amount, and/or an agreement to pay the amount owed over time.

When you sign a lease, you agree to pay the full amount - that's the monthly rent times the number of months in the lease. Moving out early does not eliminate your obligation to pay the rent. The landlord does have an obligation to mitigate damages (that means he must try to re-rent the property to new tenants quickly) but it can take time to clean up an apartment, find new tenants, etc.

Part of your negotiation(s) with the landlord should include an agreement on the landlord's part to limit the damage to your credit rating(s) - if you made him file a court action to get you out of the apartment, there will already be a public record of that suit, which cannot be erased now. However, he does have control over what he reports to credit agencies.

Re: Eviction

On further reflection, it may be that the statute of limitations has run on the landlord's claim against you - this will depend on whether or not he has turned it into a judgment against you or has treated it as a private debt. However, even if the statute of limitations has expired, it can still be reported on your credit for up to 7 years after the last activity. If the landlord has obtained a judgment against you, it is good for 10 years, and can be renewed for an additional 10 years.