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I gave 30 day notice to my landlord per (month-to-month) lease on May 1st and vacated on May 31st. Per her request, we did a final walk through on June 1st. She never offered us a pre-move out inspection. It is now June 22 and we have not received our deposit nor an itemized list of deductions. She is saying she has until today at 4:00 pm (half hour from now) to deliver this due to the walk out being held on June 1st. We did not pay rent in June. Earlier on the phone she admitted she did not know about the 21 day rule and is now scrambling to pull together "estimates" of all the numerous amounts of repair needed. She says per CA law attaching estimates is allowed. My questions:
If notice was provided on May 1st and we vacated on May 31st, 21 days would be June 21, correct? She is already too late?
Secondly, was she required to offer a pre move out inspection letting us know about all of these things that we needed to fix?
Third, what about all the estimates? She has estimates for a cleaning company stating that it will cost $700 to clean the home (1400 sqft). I was prepared for her to deduct some for cleaning. I did clean the house thoroughly but did not hire a professional. $700 seems EXCESSIVE by any standard. She also has "estimates" for yard work, estimates for plumbing work needed. My understanding was that these repairs needed to be done in 21 days unless there was a legitimate reason that it could not be done. Not understanding the law is not a legitimate reason. I have a text message from her dated yesterday stating we would have our refund by the 30th of June.
Legal days begin at midnight, end at 23:59 pm. If you vacated on the 31st their legal first day is the 1st and they are past 21 days on the 22nd. I don't know the rules regarding deposit returns that are specific to CA but the legal guidelines around days is standard. If the rule is 21 days then the cutoff would have been on the 21st at 23:59.
CA law does require a pre-move walk as far as I know but can be waived by the tenant, I could be wrong on waiving it.
Estimates are fine in AZ as long as I have receipts come court time.
It is all moot because she is late, by AZ standards anyway and CA is more tenant friendly.
Read up on the CA laws as posted in the first sticky thread at the top of the Renting forum. It includes information such as the quote below.
Did you take photographs of the apartment when you moved out? If so they could help substantiate your case. If you actually did a thorough cleaning then yes I think $700 is excessive for cleaning costs. However very few tenants actually do a thorough cleaning before moving out.
Quote:
A landlord can withhold from the security deposit only those amounts that are reasonably necessary for these purposes. The security deposit cannot be used for repairing defects that existed in the unit before you moved in, for conditions caused by normal wear and tear during your tenancy or previous tenancies, or for cleaning a rental unit that is as clean as it was when you moved in.216 A rental agreement or lease can never state that a security deposit is "nonrefundable."217 Under California law, 21 calendar days or less after you move, your landlord must either:
Send you a full refund of your security deposit, or
Mail or personally deliver to you an itemized statement that lists the amounts of any deductions from your security deposit and the reasons for the deductions, together with a refund of any amounts not deducted.218
The landlord also must send you copies of receipts for the charges that the landlord incurred to repair or clean the rental unit and that the landlord deducted from your security deposit. The landlord must include the receipts with the itemized statement.219
I gave 30 day notice to my landlord per (month-to-month) lease on May 1st and vacated on May 31st. Per her request, we did a final walk through on June 1st. She never offered us a pre-move out inspection. It is now June 22 and we have not received our deposit nor an itemized list of deductions. She is saying she has until today at 4:00 pm (half hour from now) to deliver this due to the walk out being held on June 1st. We did not pay rent in June. Earlier on the phone she admitted she did not know about the 21 day rule and is now scrambling to pull together "estimates" of all the numerous amounts of repair needed. She says per CA law attaching estimates is allowed. My questions:
If notice was provided on May 1st and we vacated on May 31st, 21 days would be June 21, correct? She is already too late?
Secondly, was she required to offer a pre move out inspection letting us know about all of these things that we needed to fix?
Third, what about all the estimates? She has estimates for a cleaning company stating that it will cost $700 to clean the home (1400 sqft). I was prepared for her to deduct some for cleaning. I did clean the house thoroughly but did not hire a professional. $700 seems EXCESSIVE by any standard. She also has "estimates" for yard work, estimates for plumbing work needed. My understanding was that these repairs needed to be done in 21 days unless there was a legitimate reason that it could not be done. Not understanding the law is not a legitimate reason. I have a text message from her dated yesterday stating we would have our refund by the 30th of June.
Isn't this all moot because she is too late?
Thank you!
The 21 day " start" is 12:00 am midnight June 1st and ends 11:59 June 21st. The May 31st doesn't count because that day was paid by the monthly payment. It's a occupancy day even though you surrendered occupancy that day.
The cleaning is debatable because I dont know how clean you left the place. Granted the most I ever paid for cleaning was 300 bucks but that was a cleaning service I had no relationship with and I had to get it clean fast and my regular cleaning girl couldn't fit me in. So to me $700 unless you're a freaking slob is a lot. But this is assuming you are a relatively clean person and left the residence clean no junk dirt crap everywhere
The yard work and plumbing UNLESS you deliberately/accidentally broke/damaged it it's not your problem. So worn out lawn or leaking plumbing isn't your issue. Now if the plumbing was leaking and you simply did not call it could be negligence n your part and damages may be assessed.
Yes it's all moot. What you do isthis
Send a certified demand letter for ALL your deposit to be refunded due to her violating the 21 day rule.
If she refuses make sure you keep the letter, envelope and check she sends you. Then file in small claims
FYI the repairs do not need to be done within the 21 days. The estimates and the itemized charges and refund need to be given to you within that 21 days.
You should get everything back, do not offer to pay for cleaning either, she owes you the whole amount, because she had to either tell you what she was holding and return the rest by the 21st.
She didn't offer you a pre move out inspection, it's her loss, I would have waited another week just so she knew there was no gray point at which she felt she could grasp at straws.
She might start making things up like 21 business days, just ignore her and ask for the full amount back, if you offer anything for cleaning she will hold it against you should it become a small claims case.
I've helped many co-workers and friends receive full refunds... none, even going to court were awarded damages...
Most of the time the owners were mom and pop operations and had no idea... even told one to call the lawyer that handled the closing and he did while I was at his place of business... his lawyer directed him to cut a check on the spot and he did.
You really don't have any rights unless you exercise them... at least this is my experience.
As the time has passed... my next move would be a court date...
PS... I have seen a person get a full return because of the 21 day rule... and the place was trashed.
The owner did the refund and then sued and won for damages... don't think he ever collected... but, the judgement is real.
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