Landlord Acceptance of Changed 30 Day Notice

[ck27paws]

My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: California

I am leaving my current rental house to move into a new home we purchased. We gave our landlord our 30 day notice to coincide with the close of escrow, which was initially supposed to be on 10/1/11. Due to a technical issue, the approval of our loan was delayed. The date of our escrow changed to 10/14/11.

I immediately notified my landlord on 9/15/11 via email that there was a change in the date of escrow and it was estimated to close the second week of October. I received a response from her via email on 9/20/11 stating (emphasis hers):

"Let this serve as Notice that your rent for the October 1, 2011, is still DUE ON THE FIRST regardless of move out date. As you have changed your 30 day move out date the entire month of October will be due, however I will refund the days if any from the date you are completely out. I must have in writing the date you would be out of the home.The entire month is due as you once again need to secure a 30 day notice to vacate. This is our agreement."

I then immediately mailed the amended 30 day notice stating our last day in the house would be 10/20/11 (which was 30 days from the date of mailing, even though our escrow was now closing on 10/14/11.) Due to her statement above that she was expecting October's rent from us, we assumed she was fine with the situation. However, on 9/27/11 via email and today via Fed Ex, we received a letter titled "Notice to Vacate" stating that she had found a new tenant and...:

"As per your first/original date to vacate, I went to work on finding a tenant that could move in. I was able to do this with him allowing me the 5 days needed to ship shape the home for him. He has since given his 30 day NOTICE & has asked twice to his landlord for an extension. His landlord/owner is now insisting if he remains he must sign a 1 year lease as the owner/landlord does not want a vacancy come due the end of year when rentals sit vacate. This brings about a large legal issue. Since you are asking for another (second) 30 day notice, this letter is letting you know I can not do this. I did accept your original 30 day NOTICE and expect you to vacate as promise in writing. Failing to vacate on this date can bring about a law suit for you, which may cause you problems with your loan."

I seriously doubt the statement that the new tenant's landlord is trying to force him into signing a one year lease. I have been renting in Southern California for over 10 years and have NEVER been presented with that situation - except by my current landlord. When I first told her I would be purchasing a home, she attempted to force me to sign a year lease. When I wouldn't give in, she raised the rent $150.

Questions:

1) Does her statement in her email on 9/20 constitute her agreement to our amended 30 Day Notice? Especially since she took the initiative to emphasize "This is our agreement"? It was my understanding that a verbal contract is enforceable in California and her email would meet the demands of being a verbal contract at the very least.

2) Assuming we served our notice properly and she accepted it, it is my understanding that her demand that we pay for the entire month of October is unreasonable. We would only be responsible for paying her through 10/20/11 as stated in our 2nd 30 Day Notice. Is that correct?

3) Does she have the basis for a lawsuit against us if we do not vacate the home on 10/1/11?

She has ignored requests for repairs and misquoted me on several occasions. Luckily, I have her emails to confirm all of her behavior. Thank you SO MUCH for your help! She has not been a fun landlord to deal with!!!

[Mr. Knowitall]

From what you say, she made an offer to allow you to extend your stay and to refund rent after your actual move-out date. You rejected that offer, instead sending a new thirty day notice with a different end date. She did not accept your counter-proposal.

If you and she had come to terms such that she agreed not to honor your original 30-day notice, she would be obligated to honor your second thirty day notice. As you did not come to terms, she is indicating that she is going to stick with your original notice.

[ck27paws]

Thank you for your response and I understand what you are saying. However, we did not reject her offer. We accepted they legal aspects of her offer and also did abide by her request for the amended 30 day notice.

Today, we paid her the rent through 10/16/11, as she had a tenant she claims she wanted to move in as soon as possible. We added two days to our escrow close in order to clean and make repairs. They are continuing to demand that we pay the full month of October despite the fact that our properly served 2nd 30 day notice only extended our notice to 10/20/11.

We are happy to pay them through the 20th, but not the end of the month. That is 10 days past any legal requirement on our part. And we fully expect them to try to keep our security deposit as they have ignored repair requests, etc. for the last two years. They have not proven themselves to be trustworthy people, sadly.

Is there any legal requirement to pay them through the end of October? Thank you!

[antrc170]

Your LL clearly accepted your first 30-day notice and you are responsible for the rent up to the end of your stay. The LL can demand the entire month all they want, but don't give it to them. Explain that according to their communication they accepted your first move out date and that is what you are going by.

[Mr. Knowitall]

Thank you for your response and I understand what you are saying. However, we did not reject her offer. We accepted they legal aspects of her offer and also did abide by her request for the amended 30 day notice.

You misunderstand. When you say anything other than "I accept" - when you attempt to impose any modification of the proposal - that is not an acceptance. It is a rejection and a counter-offer.

Your LL clearly accepted your first 30-day notice and you are responsible for the rent up to the end of your stay. The LL can demand the entire month all they want, but don't give it to them. Explain that according to their communication they accepted your first move out date and that is what you are going by.

You somehow missed the issue under discussion.

The landlord is willing to stick with the thirty day notice, and has indicated that she would be perfectly happy if they pack up and leave by the 11th. They want to hold over, but only pay for the few days they're holding over. They rejected the landlord's proposal in relation to the terms under which they might hold over so she's telling them, "All right, then, move out."

[ck27paws]

I understand Mr. Knowitall. Thank you!

And to clarify, now they don't want us to move out sooner for their new tenant, which they didn't communicate to us. What they are saying now is that they will accept our revised 30 Day Notice which would have us moving out on 10/20/11 ONLY IF we agree to pay them for an additional 10 days through 10/31/11. Once we said we were not willing to pay additional money above and beyond what was required by our 30 Day Notice, they are saying they will not accept our amended 30 Day Notice. So they basically want us to pay 41 days rent for a proper 30 Day Notice.

So they originally accepted our amended 30 Day Notice on 9/25/11 and changed their mind on 9/27/11 saying the new tenant had to move in on 10/7/11. Then on 10/1/11, they were back to willing to accept our rent again. They seem to change their mind based on what works for them. Now they have decided not to accept our rent again for the remaining 20 days because we won't pay 31 days rent. They are filing a 3 Day or Quit. I can't imagine it is legal for them to continually change their mind like this.

Thank you for your advice!!