Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California
21 day deposit refund
I vacated the house I was living in on October 15, 2002. I did not recieve my security deposit refund until late December. According to the landlord, he sent it to me on time, but I did not recieve it. He claims that when he saw that the check had not cleared, and after I had left 3 messages for him (with no reply), he put a stop payment on the check and sent me a new one. He did not send the initial alleged refund through certified mail, so there is no proof that he even attempted to send it to me, unless proof from his bank that he put a stop payment on a check counts ( I don't know if there is such proof or not).
He only returned $455 out of $1400. My biggest problem is that I did have an unauthorized pet, which I got rid of the day the landlord told me to. I understand that I would have had to pay for any damages or extra cleaning the animal would have caused, but he did not even return my phone calls for 3 months after I moved out. I am worried that if I take him to small claims, I will not recieve the full deposit back despite the 21-day law guaranteeing me a full refund because of the dog. Is it worth my time, or am I going to be out of luck either way?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: 21 day deposit refund
In small claims more than in Superior Court, the judge's overall impression of the parties determines the outcome more than admissible evidence under the formal rules of evidence. The stop-payment check would be evidence of good faith on the landlord's part, and the unauthorized dog could be unfavorable character evidence that would subjectively be held against you in the judge's appraisal. On the other hand, the unanswered phone calls and the apparently undocumented deductions would help you.
Ultimately, the outcome is uncertain and since I can't get the landlord's story in his words I can't give you meaningful odds. In any event your case is certainly not hopeless and if you have the time to pursue a suit with some chance of recovering a few hundred bucks, go to it.
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