Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: Appling security deposit for last month rent.

Unless the lease specifically says so, the landlord can but does not have to apply the security deposit to the last month's rent. If you fail to pay the last month's rent and the landlord therefore applies the security deposit to it, you have breached the lease by failing to maintain the security deposit at the level agreed upon during that final month. This is technically ground for a legal action against you but the landlord has a lot of legal hoops to jump through before he can garnish your wages.

If the deposit is adequate to cover the entire last month's rent and still leave a cushion to cover any cleaning, damage or other charges that could legally be made against the deposit, you have little to be concerned about. If the balance of the deposit is negative, zero, or too small to cover the cleaning and damage you are responsible for, the most likely consequence will be a demand for payment of the deficiency, followed by a small-claims action if you don't pay. You could also end up with negative comments on your credit report.