SF - Considering breaking lease in illegal inlaw due to multiple reasons (San Francisco: 2014)

[viirii]

Hi everyone

So for a little bit of background,
I live by myself in one of the 2 illegal units in a 'single family home' in SF, and the landlord's family lives on the 2nd floor
I signed the lease in May 2013, and moved in June 2013. The lease is signed until May 2014
I was not aware that this was an illegal unit at the time - having lived only in apartments beforehand
Anyway, according to San Francisco Property Information Map , my current building is only for a single family and I am fairly sure it is illegal unit
I was quite happy when I found this place in the competitive SF market, but few factors have made living here unbearable (I actually posted about this in another community, when I had reached one of my breaking points)
If it helps, I pay utilities (water, PG&E) by the method of total bill / # of people living in the house. I get my own
- landlord keeps turning down the temperature of the water tank to 25% of max, which has resulted in very cold showers especially in the mornings - including during the winter months (I started recording date and time of cold showers recently)
- landlord keeps count of how often I do laundry, and actually opens the washer/dryer to look at my load. Once she knocked on my door, to criticize me about my load (in my excuse, it was because everything except for one thing was dry, which I took out to expedite the process for that remaining item)

Edit: Forgot to mention this earlier, but I've never been late on rent, and always paid utilities on the spot when the landlord tells me the amount

There are other things that bug me, like keeping tabs on when I come and go, going through my garbage, etc. but those do not constitute as legal reasons to break lease

I am actively seeking alternate living situations currently and as soon as I find another place, I am hoping I can bring this up with my current landlord

My question is, I already have a security deposit and last month rent paid for. How much can I recuperate, and what kind of notice am I supposed to give in order to move out ? (30 day standard notice applies here as well?)
I'd like to end things on good terms even if I am breaking lease - I really do not wish to have to resort to threatening to report the unit or going to small claims court if I am not getting reasonable amount of last month rent and/or security deposit back. I am more than happy to try and help them find new tenants, etc. Also, I am leaving the unit in better condition than I moved in since I did not get any new paint etc., and I actually removed some of the marks on the wall myself

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

I think you should go ahead and give them 30 days notice to move, if you're sure you are ready. Be sure and include your forwarding address - important regarding your rights to your security deposit below. Don't let them claim they didn't know where to send it.

So, March is already paid for. That's sweet.

It's legal to break a lease in CA. The landlord then has to take reasonable steps to re-rent the unit and can only charge you rent until they find another tenant - using reasonable means.

Even if you are breaking the lease, the LL still has to do things by the book regarding your security deposit. They probably won't do this. If I was you, I wouldn't give them a heads up on what they are supposed to do. That way if you end up in court over your deposit, you win by default, and they lose all claim to the deposit. You get the full deposit back, no matter what, if they don't follow the rules.

First they have to give you written notice of your right to a pre-move-out inspection, and do it right, with the actual law included regarding your rights on the notice. Bet they won't do this.

So, don't ask them anything about doing an inspection.

Plus, during the pre-move-out inspection, they are to give you a list of what needs to be done in order to get your FULL deposit back. No non-refundable fees are allowed in CA. Period. The law is designed so that tenants can get their full deposits back. And the list can't be ridiculous, like replace the old carpets, etc.

Then, they need to reimburse you and/or send you and itemization of deductions from your deposit within 21 days. They may or may not do this.

If they don't do even one of the above, you get your full deposit back, plus your court costs. Doesn't matter if you broke your lease.

They may come after you for more rent, but they'd have a hard time convincing a judge in SF that they couldn't re-rent that room within 30 days in SF.

I can't stand living with roommates, and I can't stand nosy landlords, so I don't blame you a bit for getting out of there.

Here's a link that fully explains the security deposit law:

California Tenants - California Department of Consumer Affairs

Here's an article about breaking leases:

Breaking a Lease and Leaving Early | Nolo.com

Happy house hunting!

BTW, with the housing situation the way it is in SF, those MIL units might be legal. But, I don't see that as a way out of your lease that would be better than just leaving as described above. You don't need to go there, in order to get out and get your full deposit back, so I'd let that go. If you bring that up in court, I think you'd look kind of weasely. In that, the place was fine when you were looking for cheap digs in SF, then when you decided you wanted to move, you suddenly cared if they were legal? See what I mean? You could look pissy and judges don't like pissy. You'll win anyway, so no need to go there.

[soyu]

I used this when I had to break a lease last year: California Tenant Law - Free legal advice for California renters' rights

My reason was that my son was (still is) too hyperactive and the downstairs neighbors utterly hated us from the first day we moved in. So we didn't have a "legal" reason to break the lease.

I followed the tips on that website to a T (I'm not affiliated with the author, but it was very helpful).

First we nicely gave our 30-day notice and requested LL to inspect the place to see what we need to do to get our full deposit back (!important!). LL was mad, said he would notify his agent, and have his agent come out to inspect. Agent was SLOOOOW. Though legally LL should take action to re-rent the place, (I think) he/his agent thought they could just slap up an ad and claimed they made the effort and continued to collect rent if the place doesn't get re-rented. It's up to YOU to keep track and do something if your LL is not proactive. I listed the place on my own and showed the place to potential tenants and collected their basic info (full name, contact, income, employer, employer contact, pet). I honestly told them that I was the current tenant but I had to move because my son was too loud and that I wasn't the landlord but I will be sending the info over to the LL and his agent for them to consider. LL WAS EVEN MORE MAD. He said his agent was already on it and that I need to STOP causing trouble. The agent was not doing anything. He slapped up an ad on CL and never contacted us for showings or anything. Never responded to us. If we had left it to LL/agent, we would be stuck paying double rent. I scheduled and did showings by myself for two weeks then waited another two weeks for the agent/LL to review the candidates. They approved someone from my list 5 days before I need to move out. I had to rush to find a place; couldn't afford double rent. Luckily found one 3 days before moving out. $300 was deducted from my deposit for cleaning and I got the rest back.

Good luck.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Originally Posted by soyu

I used this when I had to break a lease last year: California Tenant Law - Free legal advice for California renters' rights

My reason was that my son was (still is) too hyperactive and the downstairs neighbors utterly hated us from the first day we moved in. So we didn't have a "legal" reason to break the lease.

I followed the tips on that website to a T (I'm not affiliated with the author, but it was very helpful).

First we nicely gave our 30-day notice and requested LL to inspect the place to see what we need to do to get our full deposit back (!important!). LL was mad, said he would notify his agent, and have his agent come out to inspect. Agent was SLOOOOW. Though legally LL should take action to re-rent the place, (I think) he/his agent thought they could just slap up an ad and claimed they made the effort and continued to collect rent if the place doesn't get re-rented. It's up to YOU to keep track and do something if your LL is not proactive. I listed the place on my own and showed the place to potential tenants and collected their basic info (full name, contact, income, employer, employer contact, pet). I honestly told them that I was the current tenant but I had to move because my son was too loud and that I wasn't the landlord but I will be sending the info over to the LL and his agent for them to consider. LL WAS EVEN MORE MAD. He said his agent was already on it and that I need to STOP causing trouble. The agent was not doing anything. He slapped up an ad on CL and never contacted us for showings or anything. Never responded to us. If we had left it to LL/agent, we would be stuck paying double rent. I scheduled and did showings by myself for two weeks then waited another two weeks for the agent/LL to review the candidates. They approved someone from my list 5 days before I need to move out. I had to rush to find a place; couldn't afford double rent. Luckily found one 3 days before moving out. $300 was deducted from my deposit for cleaning and I got the rest back.

Good luck.

You should sue for the $300

[lalavan]

ur under RENT CONTROL yayyy
go immediately to san francisco rent board site
click on documents = get decrease in services
write up a doc listing problms and what LL has done
Best not to contact building inspector as u r in illegal unit =
Not A Problem
Call and leave message w housing rights committee of san francisco on south van ness
They have free counseling and have helped a bunch of us w our probs
HRCSF open m - thrs walk in starts at 1 pm
or call and someone will talk to u = OK