Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Tenant Death

my father lived/rented a condiminium for over 10 years. He was a great tenant. about two years ago I subleased a room from him. the landlord new about this and i signed a month to month lease agreement. i gave a 500 dollar deposit on top of my fathers 1000 dollar deposit. I moved out in november, gave both my dad and the landlord notice. this was five months ago. i never gave written notice, but the landlord knew i was leaving. february first my father found a new roomate, drew up new lease papers with him, he moved in and on february 6th my father died. i have been moving out all of my fathers things, but wanted extra time to move everything out, the landlord agreed to keep some appliances totalling 500 in order to give us march to move his stuff out. plus the new roomate needed time to find another place as well. my father had already paid feb. rent. the landlord is now claiming that he is keeping the deposits, and that i need to replace the 20 year old linoleum, pull up the carpets, clean, paint, windows, everything, and he is going to keep the deposit.is he able to do this


Asked on 3/06/03, 6:16 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
Bryan Whipple Bryan R. R. Whipple, Attorney at Law

Re: Tenant Death

Is he able to do this? Well, perhaps. All tenants are jointly liable for damage, except for normal wear and tear. Whether there is $1,500 worth of damage over and above the normal wear and tear in ten-plus years is a question of fact, very hard to prove one way or the other. I would suggest you demand an itemization, go over it carefully, then decide whether you can prove you are entitled to some of it as a refund. A possible additional problem is whether you are your father's heir or executor and thus entitled to demand payment of his portion of the deposit to you.

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Answered on 3/06/03, 6:45 pm
Ken Koenen Koenen & Tokunaga, P.C.

Re: Tenant Death

First of all, a landlord is required to refund the security OR a portion of the security with a detailed list of repair items OR a list of repair items that exceeds the amount of the deposit within 20 days after you vacate.

Furthermore, he cannot charge for items considered to be of normal wear and tear ... only for damages caused by the tenant.

If he does not make the submissions indicated above within 21 days, he must return the entire deposit, and sue for damages. He isn't entiltled to hold a deposit if he does not meet those dates.

The other problem is that the estate of your father is needed to enforce the claim against the landlord.

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Answered on 3/06/03, 7:29 pm


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