Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

I am currently in the process of getting divorced. Prior to the separation my wife and I were living in a two bedroom apartment with seven months left on the lease. When things went bad in the relationship, the apartment manager helped my wife move into another unit in the same building where she signed another one year lease. The manager helped her move in, waived the credit check and allowed her to make payments on the deposit because they had become close friends, and she has taken my wife's side in the situation. Since I could not afford to stay in the two bedroom on my income alone, I was forced to move into a smaller unit in another building and break the lease. The lease was in my name, with my wife listed as a tenant because at the time we moved in my credit was better than hers and we were not married yet. Supposedly the owners mailed some documents to my previous address, which should have been forwarded to my new address but I have never received them. The manager will not tell me what was mailed, and will not give me the owner's phone number so I could ask her. She will not tell me if my deposit will be refunded or not, or what's happening with the lease. It is apparently up to the owners, who I have no way of contacting.

Is there any possibility of getting my deposit (and pet deposits) refunded in this situation? How can I prevent the consequences of breaking the lease, whatever that is? I feel that I was forced to move out by the apartment manager and soon-to-be ex-wife. What are my rights, if any in this situation?


Asked on 7/09/10, 2:08 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Unfortunately you were the lessee and you broke the lease. They can keep your deposits to pay for the rent you still owe, although they are obligated to do everything commercially reasonable to find a replacement tenant. You can find out who the owners are through public records. You should contact them and report the manager's conduct, then do what you can to work something out with them.

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Answered on 7/09/10, 7:37 pm


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