Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California
if I am on a month to month lease agreement and I give 30 days notice, am I liable to continue to pay if the landlord or my roommates don't fill the vacancy?
2 Answers from Attorneys
You are only obligated to pay for up to one month after you have given notice if you have fully moved out by then [removed all of your possessions, returned the keys]. If you left without giving notice, then you would be liable for up to one month, but if the landlord rented your spot out before then then your liability would stop. Even if you were on a long term lease, you are liable only for a period of time that it reasonably would take the landlord to rent your spot out. Most judges consider 30 days a reasonable period of time.
Shers answer is wrong. If you were the only tenant he would be right, but his answer ignores that you have a roommate. If you have a roommate who is not moving out, unless you each have a separate lease with the landlord (which would be extremely odd) you must jointly give notice or it is not effective. As long as one of you occupies the property, the least continues and you are both jointly liable for the rent. You should not allow your roommate to find another roommate without a new lease either, because your name will still be on the lease and if your current roommate or their new roommate breaches the lease in the future, you would be liable too. Bottom line: until your roommate has a new lease with the landlord, either alone or with a new roommate, or you and your roommate BOTH move out, you are on the hook for the rent.
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