Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California
Tenants 30n day notice
My tenant gave me a verbal 30 day notice on the 5th of December but vacated the property on Dec. 22. Now he say that Iam in default of the rental act of 1984 because I have not returned his whole deposit within 2 weeks of him vacating. I say he was still obligated to pay rent until Feb 4 when his 30 day notice is up and dont have to return it until 21 days after the fourth. I dont have a problem with returnig it but am in the process or repairing and cleaning the house and am not sure of the total cost yet
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Tenants 30n day notice
First, note that Feb. 4 is more like 60 days from Dec. 5!
The deposit-return law clearly says the deposit must be returned and/or accounted for to the tenant within 21 days of when the tenant vacates. I did not find any case law, citation or reference interpreting 'vacate' to mean when the notice period expires, so the only safe interpretation here is that the 21 days begins to run when the tenant physically vacates the premises. The most landlord-favorable interpretation I can imagine is that the premises are not 'vacated' until the tenant has removed all of his property, returned the keys, and notified you (or made you aware) that he is out of the unit. Then, whether or not the notice period has expired, you have access to clean and repair, and you have the right to mitigate damages by re-renting.
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