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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Posts
    2

    Exclamation No Written Lease

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

    I'm a college student who came to rent a room in the house I'm still at via verbal agreement. After everything that I've read so far, I'm under a month-to-month tenancy, and I've been paying $425 a month. I moved here in January and I am on board to live in a new house starting May 1 - this time, with paperwork (lesson learned!).

    Problem: My landlady was initially lenient at my announcement last week (Week of April 20th- April 26th) that I will be moving out. I did not know about the 30-days notice rule until she confronted me via phone this Sunday night with demands that, since I didn't give her a 30-days notice, I pay her my full $425 due May 1 if I had stayed.

    Granted, I should have informed her about my plans to move. I didn't want to make announcements, however, as the paperwork for the residence that I will be moving into were not processed until mid-April (Week of April 13th-19). Basically, I didn't want to tell my landlady that I was moving out in March when I wasn't sure about the new residence. If I had known about the 30-days notice rule, then definitely things would have been different.

    I'm willing to pay a penalty even if there's no agreement between us, written or oral. I'm not trying to get out of paying any dues, but I don't think her demands for a full month's rent are reasonable either. I don't want this to escalate into the courts because I don't have time and money to take that route.

    What are my rights as a tenant? Again, no written lease; all verbal. I've been made to understand that the 30-day notice was a courtesy in this case, but I want to make sure. If she threatens to take me to court, will she have a case against me?

    My rent's got me covered until April 30. I will be gone by May 1.

    Thank you for your time. I don't like this feeling of being bullied (whether I am being bullied or not is the question) because of my ignorance about Landlord/Tenant Laws.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    1,948

    Exclamation Re: No Written Lease

    You are not being bullied.

    Tenant's notice to end a periodic tenancy from http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/l...mlTenant's

    To end a periodic rental agreement (for example, a month-to-month agreement), you must give your landlord proper written notice before you move.

    You must give the landlord the same amount of notice as there are days between rent payments.176 This means that if you pay rent monthly, you must give the landlord written notice at least 30 days before you move. If you pay rent every week, you must give the landlord written notice at least seven days before you move.177 This is true even if the landlord has given you a 60-day notice to end the rental agreement and you want to leave sooner (see Landlord's notice to end a periodic tenancy.)177a

    To avoid later disagreements, date the notice, state the date that you intend to move, and make a copy of the notice for yourself. It's best to deliver the notice to the landlord or property manager in person, or mail it by certified mail with return receipt requested. (You can also serve the notice by one of the methods described under "Proper Service of Notices".)178

    You can give the landlord notice any time during the rental period, but you must pay full rent during the period covered by the notice. For example, say you have a month-to-month rental agreement, and pay rent on the first day of each month. You could give notice any time during the month (for example, on the tenth). Then, you could leave 30 days later (on the tenth of the following month, or earlier if you chose to). But you would have to pay rent for the first 10 days of the next month whether you stay for those 10 days or move earlier. (Exception: You would not have to pay rent for the entire 10 days if you left earlier, and the landlord rented the unit to another tenant during the 10 days, and the new tenant paid rent for all or part of the 10 days.)179

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Posts
    2

    Default Re: To 525601minutes

    Thank you.

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