My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: CA
I contacted my landlord a few months ago and asked if he would consider ending our lease early. He said that if we were able to find replacement tenants that it would be fine. He advertised the property and we showed it to multiple people but apparently none were interested. My wife and I moved to a new location with a month remaining on our lease and no tenant secured.
A few days into the final month of the lease I visited the property to check for mail. I found that the house is going through an extensive remodel- hardwood floors replacing the carpet, shelving being knocked down, kitchen being redone, etc. The house is clearly not fit to live in at the time being. Is it okay for him to charge us a months rent when he is clearly using it for construction?
More details:
-About 3/4 of the prospective tenants I showed the house to intimated to me that they loved the place and wanted to move in. The landlord said that he never heard from them again. Now I worry that he was merely blowing smoke so he could use the time to remodel.
-The property is in a very expensive area. The remodel will allow him to increase his rent around 30%
-The landlord has also sent me an email saying that the house smelled of dog urine and they found areas of the carpet and the padding soaked with dog urine. This is simply not from us. I also visited the property a few days after we moved out and saw that the front door had been left open. A worker had left some tools inside but no one was there. I left the property after sunset as I had found it. If the house did smell like urine I find it most likely that neighborhood cats relieved themselves in there.
Please let me know any other details I can provide. Thanks.

