Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

When I first moved in the landlord let me move in early so that I can clean and paint the unclean and unpainted house to my personal satisfaction to live there comfortably. The balisters were missing on the stairwell, the screen door frame was broke and unrepairable, the shutters were damaged and alot of other things were wrong with the unit. I attempted to fix those things with no luck finding the materials. I informed him several times that some things I cant find, like balisters and pieces to the shutters, etc. He never fixed them and now time for me to move he is holding me responsible for those things with my deposit. He took his last tenants to court because they stopped paying rent because he didnt fix those things, he won I think because they did not show up for court. He never fixed any of the damages then and sued them for the same damages he is charging me for.

He is trying to hold my deposit to fix up his house for the next tenant. Him and his tenant came to my house to perform an inspection to tell me what they want fixed for the tenant. He compiled a list and emailed it to me. He is also trying to make me leave before the month is up so his new tenant can move in. He keeps harrassing me over text telling me he needs me out early.


Asked on 8/26/11, 7:11 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Mark Saltzman, MBA, JD Law Offices of Mark E. Saltzman

Within three weeks of your leaving the house, the landlord must send you a refund of your security deposit and, if some or all of the deposit was deducted, a statement of how your security deposit was applied. If your lease required you to provide materials for the house repairs, then you may have a problem, having not supplied them. If, however, the landlord was responsible for supplying the parts, then the cost of the materials should not be deducted from the security deposit.

Wait the three weeks. If you do not receive the refund that you believe is due to you, you can take the landlord to small claims court and recover up to $7500. Note that, if the landlord does not send the itemized statement with three weeks, the landlord must refund your entire security deposit.

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Answered on 8/30/11, 11:17 am


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