Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

I have a landlord who is a crook. He know how to legally do the least he can in our apartment complex. the city asked made him paint the partments and he half did it. if he has to paint a wall he paints over the crack only which is what the law or city requires. I called an organization for renters and they came and said he had to fix things but he would start to fix something and take a month. i was once with out a bathroom for a month. another time i was without a kitchen for a month. another time i was without a living room for a month. when i moved in nothing was done here. the carpets were dirty and the walls were not painted. the heater did not work. and the faucets leaked. he said he would fix all these but only did the above mentioned. he fixed the leaking faucet in the bathroom the kitchen one and the heater in the living room hence the no use of these areas for a month. the place is also full of mold. he sent a guy to clean it but its all back. so finally we decided to leave. i already open a small claims claim and have court in august. I am worried because The neighbohrs across who moved left the apartment in pristine conditions. and he took their deposit. they lost in small claims. he had the maintance guy write him a receipt saying he did all this work and paid him all this money. it was all lies. the maintnance guy is just a tennant who sometimes does work around here for beer and marijuana from him. I will be leaving the apartment better than i received it. is there anything i can do to protect my deposit?


Asked on 6/18/11, 11:06 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
David Gibbs The Gibbs Law Firm, APC

You may do two things to protect yourself. First, the landlord is supposed to notify you (after you notify him that you are moving out with a 30 day notice) that you have the right to request an inspection of the unit. Before requesting the inspection, clean the apartment thoroughly, fix any items you need to repair. They, from that inspection, must provide you with a list of items they intend to charge you for from your deposit. Then, fix any items they claim are deficient, unless you can prove they were that way before you moved in. Document these repairs with photographs, video - whatever you can do to prove that you fixed anything they indicated you would be required to fix before you move out. Then, when you move out, again document the condition of the place with clean, clear pictures showing every wall, the floors, the ceiling, windows, bathrooms, sinks, toilets, etc... document as best you can that the place is cleaner than when you moved in (which is probably impossible because you, like most people, probably did not document the condition when you moved in). The more evidence you have that you left it clean and in good shape, the harder it will be for them to claim damages from your deposit. Good luck!

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Answered on 7/11/11, 4:14 pm


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