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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2017
    Posts
    1

    Default Security Deposit Refunds When a Roommate, Not on the Lease, Takes Over the Rental

    My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: California

    Hi, I moved into a rent controlled apartment 3 years ago (11/14) with a random craigslist roommate and was not on the lease since my landlord told me they would have needed to remake the lease if I signed and that rent would go up. Pretty much the place was fully furnished except my room. When arriving I paid 900 to the landlord and 900 security deposit to my roommate directly (check notes say Security Deposit and Apartment Complex)

    I ended up finding a new place May 26, 2017, was gone for Memorial Day weekend and verbally informed her I was moving out on the 31st and that my last day would be July 1, 2017 (and that I would pay prorated rent). I verbally let her know the dates, but confirmed the dates with her in a text message on June 8. Also I stated in those text messages I would have a professionaldeep clean for my room on June 10, a general clean for the common areas, and have a professional carpet cleaner come in July 1.

    I get a text before the day of my cleaning that I actually need two months notice since she does not want to show my room with my stuff in it, and I inform her that most Craigslist ads are furnished when searching for rooms and I would see what I could do in finding a replacement roommate sooner. I also respond that if she were having a hard time finding a roommate I can be in charge of the ad and looking for a replacement. After the cleaning, I take pics and post a craigslist ad which gets a fair amount of responses. (she also wanted to increase the rent to $1100 so she would pay 250 less each month). Obviously making it harder for me to find a replacement, I guess it's still doable. As I am contacting and showing the place, I get one email from a girl saying is (roommate's name) your roommie? She already told me her friend is moving in so the place is unavailable. I go to confirm this with my rooommate and she confirms that after the cleaning her roommate is 80% moving in on July 7. So I remove my ad. So yeah, completely out of the loop on what is happening. Why not tell me you had someone in mind when I said I would put up an ad?

    Anyway, everything seems cool with me and roomie, just small talk and my future plans. Since my new place doesn't have a fridge, I have just stuck to my rooom and pretty much only eaten cereal until July 1.

    So on July 1, I finish packing and make sure my room is clean. I had everything packed, but the carpet cleaner had to reschedule and come in July 2 first thing in the morning. I have my landlord, come in walk around the whole apartment and I ask him directly if anything looks beyond and normal wear and tear and he lets me know everything looks really good and with a carpet cleaner will be over the top. He also states if the painters come, since my roommate has lived there so long, they can touch up my rooms walls for free. I let my roommate know about the carpet cleaner via text and ask if her friend is going to pay me the security deposit directly. She responds I have to look at the room. She does the walk through with the landlord (I am not present) and he tells her the same thing, except he doesn't have record of any deposit so the agreement is between us 2. She offers me $380 cash (pretty much 100 bucks more than what I paid in professional cleaning and carpet cleaning) and not to worry about prorated rent for 2 days. Which seems like I should get more since there has been no property damage anyway in the apartment.

    Saying things like kitchen /living room not always clean and she had to vacuum more often than me, saying I took away a prime moving day of Saturday July 1 from soneone who could possibly move in there (What? your friend is moving in July 7), cups she allegedly had to throw away (which it did happen a couple times if i broke, but I reimbursed right away) , freezer had a crack open one time and said ice melted, which i also replaced at the time), and some type of insects coming into the apartment that were allegedly never there before I moved (had 2 ferrets in the living room and did not daily clean their poo litter box). Pretty much every type of disagreement we have ever had in our 3 years there.

    So I guess all I have is a confirmed no property damage beyond normal wear and tear from the landlord, walls will be touched up, and receipts for professional cleaning and carpet cleaning, my text messages and notice for moving out, and a security deposit check directly made out to her, and emails from prospective tenants and my craigslist ad. I want this to be over, so I would even accept $650 from her. She also is not charging her friend a deposit, since she will only be there until October. But, it's not like she is going to lose any money, since she will charge the next roommate a deposit. I feel this honestly, would not have happened if we just found a roommate that was not her friend. As the new roommate moving usually pays the roommate leaving.

    Since I am not on the lease and we did not have a written agreement about the security deposit, what should I do?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Posts
    18,340

    Default Re: Security Deposit Refunds When a Roommate, Not on the Lease, Takes Over the Rental

    You're laboring under a few misconceptions.

    You're a month to month tenant. You pay by the month. There is no such thing as pro-rated rent. The statute requires that you give written notice of termination "for a period at least as long as the term of the periodic tenancy prior to the proposed date of termination." If your rent is due on the first of the month (say June 1) your written notice is given on the first of the month for termination on the last day of the month (say June 30). If you are still there on July 1 you have started a new month and your previous notice is cancelled and you have to pay for the full month of July and give a new notice on July 1 for termination on the last day of July.

    So, yes, you owe for the following month if you weren't out on the last day of the previous month and she is allowed to apply your deposit to that month.

    You don't need to be "on the lease" or have a written agreement because it's all in the statutes:

    http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/fa...er=2.&article=

    Which you should become familiar with lest you make even more expensive mistakes in the future.

    I suggest you take the $380 and be thankful that you are getting that much.

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