Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

Leasing law

My friend and I are moving into an apartment. Neither one of us has any rental history and the credit history of one of ours is not that bad but not to good.I know we are going to pay more than people with rental history, but the price they're asking for is outrangeous.It seems like they're charging us for three mouth rent. I wanna know is it illegel to do that? And what the most they change us? Is there law dealing with that?


Asked on 3/29/05, 10:05 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Gregory Broiles Legacy Planning Law Group

Re: Leasing law

A few California cities have rent control ordinances, which govern the amount of rent that a landlord may charge. Most cities don't. The best way to find out is to look at the web site for your city or county and look for information about a rent control ordinance or rent control commission. Even if you are in a rent control city, it may be that the unit you are looking at is exempt from rent control.

As a general rule (except for rent control cities), there is no legal limit on the amount a landlord can charge for rent. If the landlord is discriminating against you (or charging higher rents/deposits) on the basis of race or gender or national origin, that would be illegal. However, if the landlord is charging you a higher rent because they consider you a high-risk tenant because of credit or eviction problems, that is legal.

The best approach to the situation is probably to find a landlord who doesn't run credit checks on new tenants, or who is willing to accept a cosigner on the rent instead of charging more money.

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Answered on 3/29/05, 11:02 pm


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