Rent Refund??? (real estate, rental, month-to-month)

[jmarkel]

I have a month to month renter. Per our rental agreement I gave her 30 days notice to move out. She turned around and has said she'd in turn want to move out early - prior to her normal rent day and will want a refund of the remaining portion of the rent she already paid. Is she entitled to that? I don't feel I should have to give her a pro-rated rental refund since I gave her 30 days. Am I wrong, or within my rights?

[coyoteskye]

Originally Posted by jmarkel

I have a month to month renter. Per our rental agreement I gave her 30 days notice to move out. She turned around and has said she'd in turn want to move out early - prior to her normal rent day and will want a refund of the remaining portion of the rent she already paid. Is she entitled to that? I don't feel I should have to give her a pro-rated rental refund since I gave her 30 days. Am I wrong, or within my rights?

No, you are not required to give her a refund for the days of that month that she leaves early.
That's ridiculous.
It doesn't work that way.
It's a month to month agreement ... it's kinda cut and dry i think.
I just gave notice for a month to month.
I'll probably leave a week or so before that end of the month.
I sure don't expect any money back.
And it would the same if my landlords were the ones to give me notice.

[Ultrarunner]

Be very carefull... here are a couple of things to consider in California:

California Tenants - California Department of Consumer Affairs (http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/landlordbook/moving-out.shtml - broken link)

Landlord's notice to end a periodic tenancy

A landlord can end a periodic tenancy(for example, a month-to-month tenancy) by giving the tenant proper advance written notice. Your landlord must give you 60 days' advance written notice that the tenancy will end if you and every other tenant or resident have lived in the rental unit for a year or more. However, the landlord can give you 30 days' advance written notice in either of the following situations:

Any tenant or resident has lived in the rental unit less than one year

The landlord has contracted to sell the rental unit to another person who intends to occupy it for at least a year after the tenancy ends. In addition, all of the following must be true in order for the selling landlord to give you a 30-day notice

The landlord must have opened escrow with a licensed escrow agent or real estate broker, and

The landlord must have given you the 30-day notice no later than 120 days after opening the escrow, and

The landlord must not previously have given you a 30-day or 60-day notice, and

The rental unit must be one that can be sold separately from any other dwelling unit.

If a tenant moves out early, the landlord must make a good faith effort to mitigate the loss by actively seeking a replacement tenant... a landlord can't normally collect rent on the same unit covering the same time period from separate parties...