My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: California
Our tenant gave their "30 day" written notice on January 31, intending to end their tenancy on February 28. So the first issue we have is whether that is actually a 30 day notice or not. Regardless of that, we contacted the utilies and arranged to have the utilities transferred back to our name as of March 1.
Later, the tenant called on Feb 28 to ask for more time to move. We didn't agree, but indicated that we needed them out as soon as possible. They said they'd be done by March 2. We returned to the house on March 3, but the tenant still hadn't turned in their keys, and still had a lot of stuff on the premises. Finally, on March 10, they cleared out and returned the keys.
Can we retain a portion of the security deposit for rent for the entire month of March? We've been told that if a tenant is in a place even one day, they owe for the whole month.
Can we retain a portion of the security deposit equivalent to the amount we'll be charged by the utilities for the tenant's usage during that 10 day period. If so, how do we determine what that amount will be when we only have 21 days to issue a "Security Deposity Refund Letter" itemizing such details?

