Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California
Deposit in Event Apartment Complex Changes Owners
We have lived in an apartment 3 yrs +. The complex has changed owners/Property Managers. I have given a 30-day notice to vacate. The new Property Manger says he has no record that I paid a security deposit or pet deposit.The lease stated a total amount due at move-in of the first month's rent + security deposit, less $100 already paid. The lease stated the pet deposit amount but did not state a due date.I paid the pet deposit over a period of 4 months. I do have copies of cancelled checks totaling deposits/rents. I do not have a lease or rental agreement at this time. Also,there were no doors on the laundry room when we moved in (they were stored upstairs). On two occasions, water has poured through the floor of the laundry room to the apartment downstairs. Workmen from the complex came out each time. They both told me that something clogged the pipes. The clogs disolved before they left. The Property Manager now says there is water damage from rain. The rain and the overflow have never coincided. Other apartments were also missing doors. Did I owe the owners a 30-day notice? Do I have any recourse about the doors or the deposits?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Deposit in Event Apartment Complex Changes Owners
The answer to your first question is yes, you do need to give your landlord a 30-day notice to terminate your tenancy.
The issue relating to the doors is that unless you have somehow been damaged as a result of their absence, you don't have any recourse. Since you are obviously moving any way, it should not make any difference to you. Its unclear why you included the information about rain damage, and the clogging of the pipes. Did this impact your ability to live in your apartment? If not, you probably don't have any recourse.
Finally, if you can prove you paid the security deposit and the pet deposit, you are entitled to refund of those amounts (absent some damage which requires the new owner to repair something and use the money for repair). In California, when a rental unit is sold, the original owner must turn over all deposits to the new owner, who then become responsible for them. If that did not occur in this case, your current landlord is still under an obligation to either explain what those deposits have been used for, or return them. If he doesn't, you should probably sue both the new and old landlord in small claims court to recover your deposits.
Re: Deposit in Event Apartment Complex Changes Owners
The statement that the property manager is saying that there is damage from rain indicates that he is trying to make you pay for it. If that is the case, he cannot do so.
Yes, you must give a 30-day notice.
Regarding your deposit, the old owner is required by law to give all deposits to the new owner, along with records as to whom they came from. You may want to show the new property manager the lease showing receipt of deposit. Let him know that you no longer have cancelled checks, but you can get them from the bank for a fee, and that if you need to resort to getting copies from the bank, you will pass the fee on to him for his failure to keep accurate records.
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