Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

rental deduct method?

I live in 3 bdr aprtmt, one bdrm is not livable because bad odor. Landlord determine my rent by using square foot method by dividing the sqft of the mentioned room over the sqft of whole house and multiplied by the rent. it is correct way to do it or i only pay 2/3 of the rent? Do i have a good chance to win in small claim court. thanks


Asked on 5/14/07, 4:05 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Robert L. Bennett Law offices of Robert L. Bennett

Re: rental deduct method?

Did you move in under these conditions, or did problems (odor) occur after you moved in? I would need to know, before answering. California law does say that tenant is not required to pay full rent when part of the house is unusable. How long have you been living there? Does the odor escape to the rest of the house? How long is the lease? Is this room the only one with an odor?..What landlord is doing might be correct under California law, and it might not be depending on answers to above questions. I can't estimate your chances in small claims court, without knowing more.

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Answered on 5/14/07, 4:19 pm


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