Breaking a rental lease before it begins, California (apartment, lease agreement, tenant)

[eelicious]

I signed a lease agreement a week ago for an apartment, with an agent for the party who owns the condo. Thus far, it appears that this apartment manager has a lot more important things going on than dealing with this rental. The complex where the condo is located allows pets, so I was under the impression I could have one. I found out the owner does not allow them, and it is in the rental agreement. I signed the lease because I was nervous I would not find another place I liked as much. The current tenants have not moved out yet (so the owner will not lose money if I back out), and my lease does not start until February 20th. I found a better unit which allows for pets, has space for my bikes and will work more with me on this. But before I try and back out of this lease, I want to make sure I will not lose anything, put myself at risk. I put down a $1600 deposit , and there was no discussion or clause in the lease about this not being returned if something came up BEFORE move in, and I backed out. Please advise on what my rights are for breaking this lease 11 days before it begins/move in. Am I legally protected to get my full deposit back?

[oregonwoodsmoke]

You probably won't get the deposit back. It depends upon what is on your receipt. That deposit is not a place holder to keep an apartment on the back burner in case you don't find anything better. It's a legal contract and you have legally obligated yourself.

Why on earth would you sign a lease for a no-pets apartment if you have a pet?

[jw2]

Sorry to break it to you, In California, you are responsible for the full terms and conditions of the lease. It is immaterial that you have not moved in. The security deposit is never the limit of your responsibility.

However, your landlord has to mitigate your damage by attempting to lease it to someone else. You may get lucky and he finds another tenant before your lease was even scheduled to start. The landlord would be entitled to retain any additional advertising costs or other costs he spent to get the new tenant. I had a tenant back out after signing but before moving in (job loss). I was able to release it with no issue and returned everything to him. Just tell your landlord