Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

You need to read some on web sites or Nolo Press books on tenants rights so you can better understand what your can and can not do. You also need to use logic and common sense.

I assume you do not live in a rent controlled area. Renting is a business. If as landlord can not bring in enough money form rent and/or tax advantages and property appreciation, they eventually go out of business unless they have other sources of money to pay off the negative cash flow. By agreeing to a month to month tenancy, you told the landlord that once you felt like moving you merely had to give him 30 days notice and he would be left with a vacant room until he could find some one else to rent it. You do not have t pay anything but the rent. why should the landlord have to pay your moving expenses? If you stayed only a month and then left those expenses might be more than the monthly rent itself. If you wanted to be more protected from having to move you could have demand a one year lease.

A security deposit is a refundable sum given to the landlord to hold as a source of recourse if you leave the unit having caused damage to it. It is not the last months' rent so it can not be used to pay the last month's rent or any part of it. You can not force the landlord to do a walk through inspection but you can do one yourself and then rebut the landlord's claim of any abnormal damages.

The landlord (and the tenant) can termiante a month to month agreement upon proper written noitice for any reason or no reason at all. The lanldord does not have to pay for moving expenses when terminating a month to moth tenancy. The landlord is not required to use the security deposit toward rent during the tenancy.