Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

I am moving out of a room which I have been renting and my landlord is trying to take money from my deposit to clean AND replace the carpet. She says she doesn't want to replace the carpet until the next tenant moves out but that she wants to clean it before they move in. If she's only going to clean the carpet before the next tenant moves in, that's all she can charge me for, right?

I also found out today that she has been illegally subletting the room to me and that her property manager didn't even know that I was living in the house. I signed a lease with the lady renting the house and have a receipt for the deposit, but rent was paid in cash each month and I have no receipts for that.

What can I do or say to get my deposit back?


Asked on 8/31/10, 5:32 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
George Shers Law Offices of Georges H. Shers

Tell her that if the carpeting is still good enough for the new tenant then it clearly does not have to be replaced yet. Also, she has no idea as to how the new tenant will leave the carpet and whether she will charge her for the replacement also. More importantly, if it is an illegal unit, she is not allowed to charge rent for it; I am not sure if she can get the reasonable value or has to refund all the rent to you. If, for example, she let you use a stolen car that you did not know was stolen, she would have to pay you back all the money you paid her. If the amount of back rent is great enough, you might want to hire an attorney to do a little research and then send her a demand letter for what is recoverable.

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Answered on 9/05/10, 6:14 pm


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