Landlord "bad faith" in security deposit return?

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mikembaker

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I moved out of an apartment at the end of March. Under California law, the landlord had until April 17 (21 days) to return my security deposit. The landlord did not return the deposit. I sent an email, and got no reply. I visited the rental office, and found out that a partial return fo the deposit had been sent to the wrong address, and then return to the landlord.

My landlord had done nothing to contact me about this, and didn't try to re-send the check (they had my correct address on file). By this point, it was the end of may, over a month and a half since they were legally supposed to refund my deposit. According to the California Supreme Court, they must return my full deposit.

The landlord then sent me the partial refund (which they had sent to the worng address before), along with a note saying that they had tried to send it in "good faith." Evidently the intial effort to send the check was in good faith, but then, no further effort was made, even though the landlord made the mistake and had my correct address on file.

I sent a letter to the landlord, demanding a refund of the full deposit. I got no reply, so I recently sent another letter, which I do not expect a reply to.

Under the CA Civil Code and the CA Supreme Court's ruling, I am entitled to a full refund, but, if the landlord acted in "good faith," they can sue me for damages. So, I don't want to go to court unless I'm sure I will win and cannot be sued by the landlord later on.

Is it "bad faith" if the landlord made no effort to contact me or send the check to my correct address until I contacted them over a month past the deadline? Is an initial "good faith effort" all that is required, or is the landlord also required to make an effort to rectify its own errors in failing to send my refund?
 
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