Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California
damage charges in lieu of deposit
Upon moving into university provided student housing I was not charged a security deposit. Upon moving out, my university bill was charged for damages to the apartment in the amount approximately 4 times the rent. Most of the charges are related to painting the apartment. Allegations against me are that there were holes in the wall related to wall hangings that required the whole apartment be repainted.
Possible issues as I see them are: (1) I was not protected by a dollar limit of liability, which would be related to the amount of a security deposit, as is customary for most rental agreements. (2) By renting from the university, am I not covered by standard renting laws? (3) Is painting the apartment a charge that is customarily paid for by the tenant or landlord?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: damage charges in lieu of deposit
(1) The statutory limit on security deposits is not a limitation on liability. If you negligently burn down a ten million dollar apartment complex, you are liable for ten million bucks. The purpose of the security deposit is simply to make collecting normal-size tenant liabilities easier.
(2) As far as I know, state-run universities are subject to the Civil Code landlord-tenant rules; although an argument could be made that they are immune from suit by virtue of sovereign immunity, I think the argument fails.
(3) Painting costs are usually borne by the landlord except when the tenant has caused accelerated damage (something other than normal wear and tear). If you were not allowed to make holes to hang art and you did, you can be socked with the cost of repair, but complete repainting to the tune of four months' rent sounds excessive.
Re: damage charges in lieu of deposit
typically a landlord can only charge you a fair reasonable amount for damages that may per se exceed your security deposit if you committed "waste" beyond what would be deemed as normal wear and tear. from the facts you have given thus far, it sounds as if your landlord is charging well beyond what is reasonable under the totality of the circumstances. if you want further legal assitance in fighting this "excessive" amount being charged to you, contact my office asap for justice. [email protected]
Related Questions & Answers
Looking for something else?
10,200 active attorneys ready to answer your legal questions today.
Featured Attorneys
Earn additional revenue and grow your business.
