Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California
giving less than 30 days notice
my roommate and i have been living in an apartment since april. there are various things that have been broken since we moved in. our landlord hasn't fixed anything despite being giving written complaints. this past sunday, july 23 it rained here and we discovered there is a pretty bad leak in the roof in the bedroom. since that date, our landlord had the roof looked at but not repaired. we are paying full rent for an apartment that is uninhabitable. we found another apartment that is available elsewhere and we want to move out of the current place as soon as possible. neither my roommate or i want to pay a full months rent on an apartment that we can't even stay in because of the flooding and mold that was found in the roof. is there anyway that we can get out of giving the required 30 days notice before moving out? or is there some law that states we shouldn't have to pay a full months rent?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: giving less than 30 days notice
You can move out without giving any notice, but you may sacrifice certain things like your security deposit. Also, if your lease has not expired, you will be liable for the balance of the lease term. If you're month-to-month, you can move out with no notice. Just remember, you'll have to sacrifice your security deposit and last month's rent.
Re: giving less than 30 days notice
You should take pictures of the various problems in the apartment. They may well amount to a construtive eviction. Tell the landlord that you are moving out and will not be paying any more rent and want you security deposit returned.