Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California
Room rental
I recently viewed a room for rent in a house. The homeowner handwrote a small agreement stating that he was accepting my deposit check and holding the room for me. I then decided I no longer wanted to move in because he seemed sort of flaky. Now, he's telling me he's waiting for me to move in and I told him I changed my mind. I found somewhere else to live. What are the consequences I face, if any. Do I have to pay him rent even though I never lived there? Please, any help on this topic would be appreciated. He says he's going to file a small claim if I don't pay him for the month. Can he just cash my deposit?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Room rental
The agreement itself will need to be reviewed by an attorney, but it sounds like the worst case scenario is he keeps the deposit and that is all. (that is, of course, the entire reason for the "deposit" in the first place) You may even have some options to get the deposit back though, depending on the agreement. If the deposit was for the entire month, and if he found someone else to move-in without losing that months rent, he would not be entitled to keep the deposit. Further, he has a duty to make a good faith effort to rent out that unit, to "mitigate" his damages. You should have the agreement reviewed by an attorney as soon as possible.
Feel free to contact me if you would like to discuss further.
Yours truly,
Bryan
877.201.8728
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