Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

I signed a lease with two other people. The lease started july 29, 2015 to july 29, 2016. There are several points to be paid here.

They unexpectedly had to stay in their original apartment until August 15, 2015. Therefore they did not want to pay until their lease ended at their other apartment. This happened after they signed the lease with me.

They now want out of the lease and have asked me to find new tenants. The landlord agreed to terminate my lease with these two girls and begin a new lease with the new tenants. The new lease, however, will not start until October 3rd forcing the girls to pay the three days in October. They are refusing to pay this.

Also the utilities are under my name and I am afraid they plan on not paying the utilities.

I fully intend to pay the entire rent whether they pay or not, but my question is this; can I take them to court for the rent payments they are refusing to pay and what about the utilities? If so, what steps do I need to take in order to do this?


Asked on 9/01/15, 10:35 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Nicholas Spirtos Law Offices of Nicholas B. Spirtos

You are handling this the right way. You will have to pay the full rent to the landlord, and the full utilities. Then you can sue the roommates who failed to abide by their agreement in small claims for all those amounts, including the three extra days of rent. Just figure out what they would owe for daily rent and sue them in small claims court.

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Answered on 9/02/15, 9:46 am


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