Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

I put a deposit down on a rental($600.00) and for reasons the property owner is aware of, have changed my mind and no longer want it, nothing was signed , no lease, nothing,not even a rental application, the check was CASHED 5 days after it was written, the prop ownr is refusing to give it back the $600.00, can i get it back?


Asked on 2/16/11, 3:21 pm

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

If you try to recover the money in small claims court, you will need to establish the purpose of the deposit. Was it to begin the term of an oral lease? If so, you may have been on a month to month lease, and the deposit was a part or all of your first month's rent. Was it to hold the premises for you? Was it to show your good faith, in case you wanted to actually rent the premises?

If there was a contract, then you paid $600 and received something in return.

If the $600 did not establish a contract, i.e. you did not get anything in return for your deposit, then you can get the money back.

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Answered on 2/16/11, 3:30 pm


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