Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California
Whomever it may concern:
Hello
I'm trying to ask some questions about apartment lease law.
My name is Danny and I live in LA.
I'm an international student from South Korea and attending Santa Monica College.
Last year(2008) August, I got in a lease apartment with friends of mine. (4 people)
We paid $3000. for Security Deposit and had paid $2500. for monthly rent fee until
August 2008.
On August,25, we were supposed to get the deposit back, but the thing is he deducted $1972.50 from total deposit $3000.
The followings are the listed deduction:
Repairs
Replaced damaged plastic rubber around the refrigerator door (inside lower door) $169.00 (They gave us used, old refrigerator when we first got in)
Replaced missing light-fixture-cover, repair window-glass from bedroom, draperys wash etc. $100.00
Unstopped water from kitchen-sink due to the food accumulated in sink-drain
$69.50
Painting
inside painting and caulking $790.00
cleaning-in-general $220.00
Cleaning
carpet wash $125.00
Miscellaneous
late payment $499.00
Total Deductions: 1,972.50
And, he supported this with Section 1950.5 of the Civil Code
When we got in this room first, there were no brand new stuff like furniture, refrigerator, etc., but the problem is we didn't take pictures of them ( I have some video which records all over the house, but not sure it will help)
I know since we signed in the contract and don't have data to support ourselves, it is really hard to figure this out.
However, I don't extremely want for him to do the same naughty things again to other young and naive students like us ( As far as i know, he has actually done this from long time ago)
So, as much as i can, I will try to stop him and, if possible, get more deposit back, too.
Please give me the details about how I should figure this out.
And, if you need further details about the contract, please let me know; I have all the data such as contract and deposit refund forms and pictures that he presented.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Those of us who answer questions are volunteers and provide general -- rather than specific -- advice. If you believe that the landlord unreasonably withheld money, especially for painting which might be normal wear and tear (unless you wrote on the walls!), you should try to work it out with the landlord. If not, you can either try local mediation if the landlord is willing, and/or file a small claims lawsuit and provide proof that, when you left, the apartment was not in the condition that the landlord claims. Good luck!
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