Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

I've run into a situation with a sub-letting tennant regarding defaulted rent, damage to the property, and a dispute over the security deposit. I was the primary tennant on the lease, and a sub-letting tennant vacated the property without providing written notice. His deposit was $1500 total, but he did $690 of damage to the property, and then defaulted on his March 1st, 2010 rent of $775. I assessed $200 in cleaning and waste disposal on top of the damage and defaulted rent. My true question is in regards to the timing of providing the itemized list of deductions. The subletting tennant claimed on February 28th, 2010 that he was considering finding a new residence, but that he would pay his March rent. On March 2nd the tennant moved out without notice, and then claimed that he would not fulfill his obligation to pay March rent. How many days do I have to give the itemized list to the subletting tennant? I didn't vacate the property until April 1st, and then didn't recieve the final master deposit back from the landlord until April 11th. Since the subletting tennant didn't give notice does his "vacancy" start on April 1st due to his promise to pay his March rent?


Asked on 4/30/10, 3:04 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

The 21 days does not start running until the tenant physically vacates the premises and if the tenant vacates without notice, it doesn't run until you have actual notice that the tenant is out of the premises if that is later than the date they vacate. So if the subtenant physically vacated April 1, that would be the earliest start date. If you did not know the subtenant was gone until a later date, that is the starting date.

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Answered on 5/05/10, 3:11 pm


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