HELP: Can I be held responisble for finding a new tennant in a month to moth rental. (apartment, lease)

[FaceTheLight]

I asked this question in the Los Angeles forum already. I didn't realize there was one specifically for renting.

I rented a room in Santa Monica starting in August. This living situation isn't working out for me so I e-mailed her my written 30-days notice yesterday. I can't give it to her because she got accepted to a school in New York and no longer lives here. Shes a visa student from South Korea, if that's relevant at all. Anyways, she accepted it. However, in her reply she stated:

Written notice to vacate has been accepted and you may leave the residence in clean and undamaged condition on November 31 2011. We understand that the deposit will be fully refunded as agreed, if Tenant replaces someone else by getting permission from the lessor, if decided not to live in the apartment, [address](refer to Addendum to rental agreement number 1.)

It's a month-to-month rental agreement. In my rental agreement, the addendum she references states that:

Tenant agrees to a month to month contract and Tenant may replace someone else by getting permission from the lessor (via any source of contract), if decided not to live in the apartment. And tenant should give a 30 days prior notification by writing with the date of moving out. Fail to do so tenant will not return back the deposit.

Am I responsible for finding someone else to rent my room? What I took my lease to mean and as she explained it, when I rented it was that I had to give 30 days notice and could find someone else to take over my room if I had to leave immediately, with her permission.

Last time I checked MAY was an OPTIONAL word. However, she is saying that I am REQUIRED to find a person to take over my room. I am thinking she is trying to dump the responsibility of finding a new renter on me because she is now out of state.

Basically she is saying that if I don't find a new renter for the month of December, my deposit isn't getting returned. Even though, I gave the required 30 days notice. Can she do that? Is that legal?

[old_cold]

The phrase sounds more to me like one included to allow you to sub-let which is usually only something encountered in a long term lease.
So, even though it is odd that it's in there I agree with you that the word may precluded you from the obligation.

[bouncethelight]

Originally Posted by FaceTheLight

Shes a visa student from South Korea, if that's relevant at all.

It sounds like she doesn't understand the laws in California, and is just making it up as she goes along...

If she wanted you to be responsible for finding a replacement, then she should have had you sign a lease. The whole point of a month-to-month agreement is that it makes it easy for both sides to terminate the agreement quickly and easily. She can't have it both ways!

Originally Posted by FaceTheLight

Basically she is saying that if I don't find a new renter for the month of December, my deposit isn't getting returned. Even though, I gave the required 30 days notice. Can she do that? Is that legal?

If you're positive you signed a month-to-month agreement, and not a lease, then here's info from the State of California on giving notice (http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/landlordbook/moving-out.shtml - broken link). Maybe send her the link, and explain to her that with a month-to month agreement, your responsibility ends at the end of the 30 days notice - and you are under no obligation to find her a replacement tenant.

Good luck. The fact that she doesn't seem to understand the way things work, may make this a difficult situation. I hope you can convince her easily that she has it wrong.

[tilli]

It isn't your responsibility to find a new tenant when you properly end a month-to-month lease. That clause doesn't even make sense, "Tenant may replace someone else"? It sounds like a home made lease from an unprofessional landlord with a questionable grasp of the English language. She is responsible for finding her own tenants, not you. Even if it said "must" instead of "may" I strongly doubt that it is enforceable (although I am only giving my layman's opinion, I am not a lawyer).

When you are month to month you don't have any long term responsibility for keeping a tenant in the rental. It is only when you want to break a longer lease in the middle that you may have some obligation to help re-rent the unit in order to reduce the amount you would owe.

[STT Resident]

Originally Posted by bouncethelight

It sounds like she doesn't understand the laws in California, and is just making it up as she goes along...

Maybe send her the link, and explain to her that with a month-to month agreement, your responsibility ends at the end of the 30 days notice - and you are under no obligation to find her a replacement tenant.

I hope you can convince her easily that she has it wrong.

And obviously she doesn't write English well either - what a grammar-mangled lease! She could have printed out a standard month to month online lease so easily.

I wouldn't send her the link. Just tell her that in accordance with CA law you are under no obligation to find a new tenant and will expect to receive your security deposit in xxxxxx days (whatever CA state landlord tenant laws require). Give her your forwarding address. If she fails to return your security deposit within the time proscribed then she'll soon find out how wrong she is when you take her to small claims court ...