Can Your Landlord Keep Your Deposit to Cover Rent They Previously Refused
Dear Counselor-
If a master tenant/landlord refuses a timely rent payment for the last month of residence because they asked a sub-tenant (me) to leave in the middle of a lease term because of a personal dispute not involving any breech of lease terms, and refuses to accept a timely rental payment for the last month, on grounds that I was over-staying the period they had granted to move out, can they, after I move out, keep my security deposit in payment of that last month's rent that they had previously refused?
I was living in a group house with eight other adults neat the UC Berkeley campus. Three of the tenants were master tenants and the rest of us were sub lessors. I had a series of conflict with another tenant over various minor matters, leading to some tension and mutual distrust. This tenant then asserted that I had committed a felony to both the other tenants and the police. Both the other tenants and the police initially believed these charges, and the police arrested me and turned my room inside out and upside down, and seized all my computers and kept them for six months. (I am trying to launch a start-up based on software I had spent the preceding three years writing and was essentially unable to work during the period that my computers and all my back-up devices were held). The arrest was under a Ramey warrant – a fishing expedition, basically. After repeatedly putting off my arraignment, the prosecutor acknowledged that after an extensive search of my hard drives no evidence of any crime had been found and no charges were going to be brought. So I was (fortunately) never arraigned, and so there was (unfortunately) no formal dismissal.
My best assessment of the other tenant's allegations is that they were based on a sincere if far-fetched misinterpretations of some personal documents of mine that they acquired by snooping on my computer without my knowledge or consent, colored by the preceding conflict and attendant dislike.
The master tenants believed the allegations and told me that they were terminating my lease, three months into a year's lease term. They demanded that I move out by the end of the month. Note that the alleged crime, even if I had actually committed it, did not violate any lease term, and that the initial demand was given with less than 30 days notice before the supposed deadline.
In the wake of these events, I felt pretty abused and I wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. However, I had (and have) pretty limited means and quite a lot of books and furniture. (I was recovering from a break-up with my partner and had downsized a lot in order to fit into the space, but it was still a considerably better than average deal, as we all split the rent equally but I had the largest room in the house). I stated that I would move out as soon as I could, but that I was not going to move to a temporary location and then have to move again (as they demanded). It took me about two and a half months for me to find a big enough place that I could afford.
Before the first of the last month that I resided there, and before I had found a new place to live, I offered a rent check for the upcoming month. The master tenant refused to accept this check, I presume because they believed that accepting it would constitute permission for me to stay through the end of the month, and possibly start the notice to quit process over again. They had demanded that I leave by the end of the previous month. They were actively threatening me with some sort of eviction proceedings at that time, though no such action was ever filed.
I moved out by the end of the month for which they had refused my check. They then informed me that they were keeping my deposit payment in payment of the rent for that final month.
I feel that the lease “termination” was plainly illegal.
I feel that I was essentially harassed out of the house, and that the refusal to accept the last month's rent check was part of that harassment, intended as a threat. Note that essentially every place I looked at had rental applications that included a question about whether you had ever faced any previous evictions, and that every apartment I looked at had ten or more applicants for the space, so the threat of an eviction proceeding, even if they could not have prevailed, had real teeth.
I had about $2,000 in moving costs and paid $5,000 in nonrefundable money to a bail bondsman in order to get out of jail. Under these circumstances, I believe that the master tenants should not be able to keep my security deposit. In payment of my last month's rent. Am I correct? If so, is there some authority I can cite to this effect?
I look forward to reading your advice.
Warmly, A.Finch
Re: If Landlord Asks Tenant to Leave Midlease and Refuses Rent, Can He Keep the Depos
Do you have an actual lease with the master tenants?
if you did not have a fixed term lease between you and your landlord your tenancy could be terminated with 30 days notice if you lived there less than a year and 60 days of you lived there more than a year. You are required to pay rent for whatever period you lived there. If you have not paid rent for any period of your tenancy your landlord has a lawful claim from your security deposit for the amount owed.
Your bond fees and moving costs have nothing to do with your liabilities under your lease.
If you had a fixed term lease you were not required to terminate your tenancy until a court said your landord had a lawful right to terminate your tenancy. If you agreed to terminate the tenancy prior to the expiration of the lease, if you had not negotiated any specific terms to the contrary, your landord would still be entitled to retain as much of your deposit to cover whatever rent you owed at the time of the termination of your tenancy
Re: If Landlord Asks Tenant to Leave Midlease and Refuses Rent, Can He Keep the Depos
Quote:
If a master tenant/landlord refuses a timely rent payment for the last month of residence because they asked a sub-tenant (me) to leave in the middle of a lease term because of a personal dispute not involving any breech of lease terms, and refuses to accept a timely rental payment for the last month, on grounds that I was over-staying the period they had granted to move out, can they, after I move out, keep my security deposit in payment of that last month's rent that they had previously refused?
If you believe that they did it wrongly you have the option of suing in small claims court to try to get it back.
I didn't read the rest of your post. TMI.
But based on the first paragraph I think you might have a chance at showing wrongful eviction.
Re: If Landlord Asks Tenant to Leave Midlease and Refuses Rent, Can He Keep the Depos
At the time that the master tenant demanded that I leave, I was in the third month of a signed one-year lease.
The master tenant demanded that I leave, served me a notice to quit, and threatened me with eviction proceedings because I had been (falsely) accused of a crime by another co-tenant, and the master tenant believed the accusation.
I agreed to leave, but not on the demanded schedule, because I have limited means and a lot of bookcases, and it was hard to find a big enough place I could afford. In the wake of the accusations, the house (where we shared a kitchen and living room) had become an impossibly hostile environment. So I agreed to leave, but only under threat. I don't know if this constitutes eviction. There was no eviction proceeding, only a notice to quit.
I believe the master tenant refused to accept my check because he believed accepting it would constitute permission for me to stay for another month, and or would start the notice to quit process over again.
How does one measure damages in a wrongful eviction action?
Re: If Landlord Asks Tenant to Leave Midlease and Refuses Rent, Can He Keep the Depos
I don't see it as being wrongfully evicted. You left on your own accord when asked, or more appropriately give a notice to quit. You had the right to refuse and let your landlord drop or sue you for unlawful detainer.
Re: If Landlord Asks Tenant to Leave Midlease and Refuses Rent, Can He Keep the Depos
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Quoting
A.Finch
How does one measure damages in a wrongful eviction action?
Here's the thing: If a landlord asks you to move out, then you voluntarily move out, that's not an eviction at all -- wrongful or otherwise. It's a mutually agreed end to the tenancy. A threat to evict you if you continue to refuse to honor the landlord's notices terminating your tenancy is not unlawful.
Re: If Landlord Asks Tenant to Leave Midlease and Refuses Rent, Can He Keep the Depos
I find Mr. Knowitall's assertions confusing. There was plainly no valid notice terminating my tenancy. They were threatening to evict me pursuant to my continued residence after an invalid notice. In any event, the only reason I asked about damages for wrongful eviction was because adjusterjack suggested I might have a right to such an action.
I would like any further responses to assume that I had nine months left on my lease, that the notice to quit was invalid, the threats of eviction were made based on the invalid notice to quit; and that I moved out based, at least in part, on these demands and threats. Whether this constitute constructive eviction, I have no idea. It seems like one of those "You can't fire me -- I quit!" type situations.
My question is, if they refused a timely offer of rent payment for my last month in residence specifically because they thought that would put them in a better position to evict me, can they then keep my security deposit in payment for rent for that same month that they had previously refused? Their refusal to accept rent my rent unambiguously framed to me as part of a threat of potential eviction. I am pretty convinced that it is unfair that they should be allowed that threat and then take the rent out of my security deposit anyway. I just don't know if the law agrees with me.
Re: If Landlord Asks Tenant to Leave Midlease and Refuses Rent, Can He Keep the Depos
Quote:
Quoting
A.Finch
My question is, if they refused a timely offer of rent payment for my last month in residence specifically because they thought that would put them in a better position to evict me, can they then keep my security deposit in payment for rent for that same month that they had previously refused? Their refusal to accept rent my rent unambiguously framed to me as part of a threat of potential eviction. I am pretty convinced that it is unfair that they should be allowed that threat and then take the rent out of my security deposit anyway. I just don't know if the law agrees with me.
You won't know if the law agrees until you put the matter before a judge.
Based on your details I think you were done dirty and have a case for constructive eviction/wrongful eviction.
Can I guarantee it? Of course not.
The CA Court of Appeals has this to say about constructive eviction:
"... It is now well established that any disturbance of the tenant's possession by the landlord, or someone acting under his authority, which renders the premises unfit for occupancy for the purposes for which they were demised or which deprives the tenant of the beneficial enjoyment of the premises, causing him to abandon them, amounts to a constructive eviction, provided the tenant abandons the premises within a reasonable time."
http://scholar.google.com/scholar_ca...=en&as_sdt=4,5
Note the phrase that I have emphasized. I think it applies to your situation.
Re: If Landlord Asks Tenant to Leave Midlease and Refuses Rent, Can He Keep the Depos
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Quoting
A.Finch
I find Mr. Knowitall's assertions confusing.
What you mean is that you understood what I told you, but that it wasn't what you want to hear.
You were not evicted. You thus have no plausible argument that you were wrongfully evicted.
You owe rent through the end of your tenancy. If you overpaid rent, and your landlord won't refund any overpayment, you may sue in small claims court to recover your overpayment.
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Quoting
adjusterjack
Note the phrase that I have emphasized. I think it applies to your situation.
How so? Sorry, but "We'll evict you if you don't move out" isn't a wrongful eviction in any state in this nation.
Re: If Landlord Asks Tenant to Leave Midlease and Refuses Rent, Can He Keep the Depos
Thank you adjusterjack. That's very helpful.
Quote:
Quoting
Mr. Knowitall
What you mean is that you understood what I told you, but that it wasn't what you want to hear.
You were not evicted. You thus have no plausible argument that you were wrongfully evicted.
You are correct; I was being disingenuous. I thought it was more polite to say that I was confused than that I thought you were. You may be correct about "any state in the country"; I wouldn't know. But this was in _Berkeley_. Berkley landlord tenant law is insane. It may be the most pro-tenant jurisdiction in the world. For example, in month-to-month tenancies, Berkeley landlords can not end a month-to-month tenancy without cause, and the allowable causes are listed in the ordinance. And landlords can not change any lease terms in a month-to-month tenancy, on any amount of notice, without the tenant's written permission. Prevailing tenants can get attorneys fees and, if there is any evidence of bad faith, often triple damages. And I know of cases were bad faith was deduced from things that, in another jurisdiction, would be regarded as minor procedural errors.
The master tenants here acted toward me with obvious, visible malice. They were not evil; they were frightened. Just for no good reason. And I am seeking advice here, not so much because I doubt my ability to prevail in a Berkeley landlord-tenant proceeding, but because I am struggling with depression and ill health and a collapsing business venture, and I am literally not sure I would survive another encounter with seven bright, committed, idealistic people, who I respect, but who nonetheless hate me for reasons that are delusional.
So I want to close this out with an exchange of letters, not a court proceeding. I just need a peg to hang my hat on, and I think I now have it. They should recognize their vulnerability -- one of them is a lawyer. But the truth is, if they just refuse to budge, I am more likely to surrender than to proceed, more or less regardless of the merits.
But I also think that it is often true that people are better off not embroiling themselves in legal proceedings even if they will prevail, and in that sense, your advice may well be correct. That same realization was largely responsible for my own decision to abandon the practice of law for public interest research work, 26 years ago.