We served a 30 day notice on our tenants that had been renting on a month to month agreement in Sacramento, CA. They immediately stopped payment on their rent check, telling us to use the security deposit--even though the rental agreement specifically stated the the deposit was not to be used for rent. We subsequently served them a 3 day notice. They moved out by the third day but left the property in poor condition. We asked them if they wanted to do a final walkthrough and they did not--they said the property was clean. We took pictures and began the cleaning and repairs. We then sent them (within 21 days) the itemization of how the security deposit was used-deducting for cleaning, repairs, the insufficient funds fee, and the past due rent for the entire month. This notice asked for additional money to cover all the expenses. They have responded that since they moved out 7 days prior to the end of the rental period, that we cannot charge them for a full month's rent. Is that true? Also in the original rental agreement we had a late charge clause but did not include that because I had read that that might be questionable--has to reflect 'actual' costs/damages--which are really minor (maybe interest on the money in a bank?) They are also questioning the number of labor hours we've logged for the various cleaning and repairs. We actually were very forgiving but is there any 'standard' or 'norm' that we should be looking at for these type of charges?

