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Was hoping someone could help... I've searched the online resources but it doesn't tackle this problem.
Gave our Landlord 1 month notice & paid our final rent. We moved in to a new house 2 weeks before the lease ended so she could repair a leaking/moldy roof and even show the place before we fully vacated. But we still had some odds & ends there we were casually picking up - as the legal tenants.
Here's the problem. She hired a bunch of guys to "clean up" so she could show the place. It was clean already, I paid a maid to do a move out job. In the process they went through a bunch of our things - sorting/disposing of things within bags and moving other objects (ie 2 $200 suitcases to a filthy outdoor storage unit on the premises). Also put some of our beverages in the fridge & were drinking them.
We didn't give her permission to touch any of our things or to take liberties with our possessions. She was there to fix a moldy ceiling that she didn't fix while we actually lived there & to show 1 or 2 potential new renters.
Is there a specific law broken here?
Now she's giving us grief about the security deposit claiming we damaged the floor (it's normal wear on the wood floor's paint, would be completely fixed with a new paint job). We feel she's responsible for the paint job not us. Indoor/outdoor patio paint has been layered on for years improperly. She cuts corners with sanding/sealing & paint quality so chunks come off like plastic... & it's not because we're throwing dance parties. She wasn't happy with the cleaning so I spent 7 hours rescrubbing all of the walls and floors etc. and she is still unhappy. She's trying to find reasons to keep our $3000 deposit.
The heater in the lower level (master suite) never worked for our 4 year tenancy, and we had a couple of rat infestations which I have documentation of. Also, we lived with that moldy/leaky roof for 4 or 5 months and she's only repairing it now that we're gone. Not to mention there was a leak in the basement patio door and all the rain (1 or 2 months ago) soaked the lower level carpet creating a brutal mildew and damaging our heavy expensive curtains.
Important to note that the labour she hires is incredibly sloppy. Paint is cut all over corners and moldings, tiling in the bathroom is uneven and obviously spaced freehand. She agreed to install a dishwasher for us if we purchased it so we did...and the workers left a huge chunk of the kitchen cabinet missing. For us to leave her house in pristine condition is impossible considering it wasn't handed to us in that way. When we moved in we hired a carpet cleaner for the blackened carpet in the bedroom and it hadn't even been vaccumed! We also installed a door on the bathroom - there wasn't one!
We want our deposit back & to stop her frivolous damage claims before real drama starts and lawyers get involved. Any case here? This was our first time renting (previously home owners) so it didn't occur to us to take move in photos, and we never did a walk through with a checklist or anything. SO frustrating.
You had two weeks left on your lease.
Did you hand over the keys to the unit before the lease ended?
Did you give the landlord permission to enter the unit?
These things are important as they will relegate responsibility to you, or the landlord.
Assuming you gave permission for the landlord to enter the unit to make repairs, and to show the unit, that is all they were entitled to do.
Any thing beyond that is trespassing.
Now, if you surrendered the keys before the lease ended, the landlord is within the law to assume you forfeited your last two weeks of the lease, and would have every right to enter the unit to clean and remove anything that was left by you.
The proper, and lawful way for the landlord to handle it was, if you left early, surrendering the keys, before the lease was up, he/she would post a "belief of abandonment" form on the door of the unit.
A smart landlord would also take a picture of that posted form.
If you did not surrender the keys before the lease was up, the landlord would have to contact you to gain entry, unless it were for an emergency.
Going through your personal belongings could only lawfully happen if indeed you did abandon the unit by handing over the keys early.
So again, it boils down to whether the landlord had permission to enter the unit for repairs, and to show the unit.
Personally I never show one of my units until the tenants have moved, and the unit is cleaned, freshly painted, and ready to rent again.
Once that is done, I place and ad for the unit.
Now, as for your security deposit, at this stage of the game, you have the upper hand.
To begin with, the landlord has only 21 days to mail your deposit back to you, with an itemized list of labor, and materials used to bring the unit back to rental condition.
This amount is deducted from your deposit.
Normal wear and tear is not covered by the security deposit, and the landlord can not deduct it from the security.
Also, the leaking roof, and patio door are not something the landlord can deduct from the security, unless you caused the damage.
Obviously there is no meeting of the minds here.
You say you cleaned the unit, and the landlord states otherwise.
If you have a receipt from the maid you used to clean the unit, and an affidavit from her stating such, that will go a long way in a court of law in settling the matter.
Frankly, I see no way this isn't going to end up in small claims court.
Get as much documentation as you can in the meantime, because you will need it.
Bob.
If the rental is in L.A., you could attend one of Coalition for Economic Survival's tenants' rights workshops for a free one-on-one consultation with an attorney:
Maybe she will be remiss and not refund or provide an itemized statement within the statutory 21 days as required... this would really help you
Know several Landlords that had to pay up because of this... law is quite clear.
The best defense would have been the move in inspection report plus the mandatory pre-move out inspection you requested... any discrepancies can then be addressed.
California law requires a pre-move inspection if you want one...
A non functioning heater probably would have been grounds for breaking the lease which it seems you were OK with by continuing to stay for years...
I would take pics of the condition of the place when you leave and demand a walk through with a signed list. And copy of that list signed by both parties. Then wait 21 days. If you don't get your deposit demand letter first court second
I don't have suggestions for you, but I was acquainted with a woman, who had several rental properties, and boasted that in 20 years she had never returned a renter's deposit. She was always able to find something she could get them on. Horrible people like that exist.
Okay, there are two things the LL must do, or you get your full deposit back - no matter what.
1) The pre-move-out inspection (called the "initial inspection." The LL MUST give you a written notice of your right to a pre-move out inspection. In this notice, she must include the wording of the law regarding your rights to your security deposit. The LL can't do this inspection any earlier than 14 days before you move out. You have to waive your right regarding this inspection for her to get out of it.
During the inspection, she must give you an itemized list of everything you must do to get your FULL deposit back. CA law is designed so that tenants may get their full deposits back.
This must be done BEFORE you move out. I would consider your actual move-out date to be March 31st? That's also when her 21 days start ticking for returning your deposit.
2) Within 21 days of your move-out date, the LL MUST send you your deposit and an itemized list of deductions with receipts. She doesn't have to give you receipts for items less than $125. BUT, if you REQUEST receipts even for the lower cost items, within 14 days after receiving the itemization, she MUST send them to you.
So, if she didn't do number 1, which I'm betting she didn't. Then you can just stop responding to her, and wait until April 22nd for your deposit and/or list of deductions. If she misses this deadline, again, per CA law she must return your ENTIRE deposit.
These types of landlords generally fail to do both of the above. You only need them to not do one of them to win in court, to get your full deposit back. But, getting both is a slam dunk - double whammy!
When she doesn't give you your full deposit back, you send her a letter requesting the full amount by x date (give her a week), then when she doesn't do it, file a claim in small claims court.
Small claims court is no biggie. You can probably even file online. Just say you are suing for x amount of money which is your security deposit money owed, and you are requesting your court fees be reimbursed.
You won't need to go into any details about anything in court. Short and sweet. If she didn't follow the laws above, nothing else matters. Just say: "Your Honor, the LL did not comply with CA Civil Code Section 1950.5 (f), regarding an initial inspection, nor Section 1950.5 (g) regarding the 21 day time limit to return our deposit (if true) and the requirement to provide receipts, nor Section 1950.5 (a) with regard to only charging us for normal wear and tear, among other subsections of Section 1950.5."
Then hand the judge (or the clerk who will hand it to the judge) a copy of the law (just in case this is a new judge who doesn't know landlord/tenant law yet):
Give the clerk a copy of your lease, copy of your notice to move, copy of the security deposit letter/check (BTW, you can probably cash it and write "amount disputed" on it, but it would be safer if you don't cash the check), copy of the bill for the maid to clean.
The good thing about there not being a "before" inspection list or photos, is that that works both ways. The LL also can't prove the condition before you moved in.
And the "before" condition won't matter anyway, if she didn't follow the laws above. The law is clear and simple. My daughter won against a landlord that didn't do the above, and even though her boyfriend trashed the place, she got out of owing any money - because the LL didn't do the above. There's no excuse good enough from the LL to get out of those laws. My daughter's LL even appealed the case, and hired a lawyer. My daughter just showed up in court and presented the same information she did in small claims court, without a lawyer and she won. I honestly felt sorry for that landlord, because the boyfriend did trash the place. But, this is a perfect example to show you that the condition, the mold, the floors, whatever - won't matter - if she didn't follow those laws.
Sorry for your rental experience.
Oh, and when you sue, if you feel she owes you for damage to your suitcase or other property, etc., you can also include it in the small claim action.
Good luck to you. I would be willing to bet you get the full deposit back, and your court costs, too. Landlords are easy to collect from, too, as you can garnish their rental income.
Last edited by NoMoreSnowForMe; 04-12-2014 at 02:22 PM..
I don't have suggestions for you, but I was acquainted with a woman, who had several rental properties, and boasted that in 20 years she had never returned a renter's deposit. She was always able to find something she could get them on. Horrible people like that exist.
I doubt she had anything she could really "get them on," that would cost their full deposits. The tenants probably just didn't fight it.
NoMoreSnowForMe has covered most of it perfectly, but just a couple of nit picks:
"This must be done BEFORE you move out. I would consider your actual move-out date to be March 31st? That's also when her 21 days start ticking for returning your deposit."
Actually, the clock starts the first day after you move (code is "No later than 21 calendar days after the tenant has
vacated the premises") which means the day after (in this case, 1 April).
"She doesn't have to give you receipts for items less than $125."
It's not items, it's a total amount of deductions less than $125 (code="The deductions for repairs and cleaning together do not exceed one hundred twenty-five dollars ($125).")
Other than that, NoMoreSnow has written the winning recipe.
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