Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

i signed a six month lease with my landlord i have been here for two months. i paid the six months up front and a security deposit. code enforcement was called about his property and he got informed that he rented me an illegal unpermitted residence. he claims he didnt know but has owned the property for ten years. now he's trying to evict me but says he wont return my money. what should i do?


Asked on 9/30/16, 7:01 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

He has valid grounds to evict you; so you may as well move out. However regardless of the permit status of the residence, it was totally illegal for him to take prepayment of six months rent, much less that AND a security deposit. Prepaid rent counts against the legal security deposit limit of two months rent plus last month's rent, meaning a maximum of three months rent. On top of that, it is totally illegal for him to keep any rent paid for time after you move out. So what you should do is move out and sue him.

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Answered on 10/01/16, 7:28 pm


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