Pro-Rate Repayment of Rent when New Tenant Already in Place
My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: CA
I gave notice to my landlord of my intention to end my lease early and the landlord agreed to allow it. I paid out 30 days of rent from the date of notification which was April 7th. I requested a move out inspection on April 19th and the landlord agreed as I was moving cross-country. The move out inspection noted areas that needed to be addressed and I fulfilled them to the best of my ability understanding that some items, a broken sink, would need to be replaced and come out of my security deposit.
Per my lease agreement, I agreed to cover the cost of advertising, cleaning, lost rent, and tenant placement costs for terminating the lease early. I vacated the property on April 20th and surrendered the keys to the landlord. I discovered that a new tenant moved into the property on April 22nd.
The Landlord has stated that she is keeping the rent for the whole 30 days as a negotiation fee. Is this allowed? She has already cashed the check for the 30 days.
Re: Pro-Rate Repayment of Rent when New Tenant Already in Place
"The Landlord has stated that she is keeping the rent for the whole 30 days as a negotiation fee. Is this allowed?"
No; the landlord cannot "double dip" in terms of rent (this is assuming the new tenant began paying rent on April 22nd).
Quite likely the landlord is assuming that since you have moved across the country it would not be worth your while to argue (or sue) over this 8 days worth of rent (a lawsuit would involve you returning to California deal with this or hiring an attorney in that state to deal with this).
If you know for a fact that the new tenant moved in on that date and began paying rent then you can always write a demand letter to the landlord "demanding" the return of your rent for these remaining days as she should legally return to you.
Gail