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heyhi98

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Iam a tentant whom moved in to an apartment with a 1 year lease and I have a problem on febuary 1 2011 I wrote my landlord stating:
"How are you I hope all is well I have a problem I know a couple of months ago I talked to you in regards to my Fiance losing his job and we found a roommate to move in to pick up other half of the rent. She notified me that she will be moving out at the end of this month and I can not pay rent myself. Due to attempted break in I couldn't get anyone I know to move in. My mom told me I can move in with her. I 'm trying to be proactive and let you know now because I do not think I can pay rent by myself next month I do have rent this month. So if you can get back as soon as you can in regards to my opposition I will really appreciate it."
And in return her wrote me, "
ok sorry to hear that. We can certainly attempt to rent it but you do realize you only are obligated only until the end of March. This is bascially just another 60 days and you are already going to stay another 30 days anyhow.
If you do move out we will charge $200 for early lease termination even if we find a tenant prior to the 31st of March. Considering the only month you will not be staying is March it may make sense for you to try and figure out a way to live there through March if we can't find someone to take it over. This way you are not paying for an apartment you are not living in.
Either way just send a written notice with your plans.
I then wrote him,
"Okay I can figure something out since I only have one more month and do appreciate your help."
Thanks.

So I payed rent and on march 31st emailed him stating that I had cleaned the place out and where would he like me to drop the keys. In response he stated you didnt give me a 30 notice. Even though we had this email converstion which I though was my notice of leaving. He took my whole 1100 dollar security deposit saying that i because i didnt notify him 30 days in advance i responsible for the month of april even though I wasnt there and he charged me an additional 500 for cleaning and shampoo the carpet . Do I have a case if I take him to small claims court? and is the email sufficient enough as notification of leaving? Or what are my legal rights
 
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Read your lease.
The words in your lease determine how notice must be given.
I'd be surprised if email transmissions are permitted.

You can take anyone you wish to court.
Will you be successful against your firmer landlord?
Probably not.
But, go ahead and try.
 
As you describe it, you did not give 30 days notice. You only gave notice that you may have trouble paying the rent- not a definitive answer that you would be leaving.

You do not have to pay the $500 cleaning fee unless he sues you over it and a judge orders you to pay. Not only does it sound very excessive, but it is probably not something you are responsible for anyway. You are only responsible for cleaning and damages beyond ordinary wear and tear. Hopefully you took photos of the place before you left.
You won't get your rent deposit back.
 
You can likely find your options at link below. That being said I agree you did not give notice and there are consequences for this. Whether or not it comes close to amount they took or not I cannot say. Much depends on the damages and what legal options landlord has for failure to give proper notice. Yes you can sue to have those funds return but there is a cost for that and no guarantee you will win suit. You might be better off to discuss your options with an Attorney amy offer free consultations so it will cost you nothing to talk.

http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/landlordbook/index.shtml
 
heyhi98 said:
Iam a tentant whom moved in to an apartment with a 1 year lease and I have a problem on febuary 1 2011 I wrote my landlord stating:
"How are you I hope all is well I have a problem I know a couple of months ago I talked to you in regards to my Fiance losing his job and we found a roommate to move in to pick up other half of the rent. She notified me that she will be moving out at the end of this month and I can not pay rent myself. Due to attempted break in I couldn't get anyone I know to move in. My mom told me I can move in with her. I 'm trying to be proactive and let you know now because I do not think I can pay rent by myself next month I do have rent this month. So if you can get back as soon as you can in regards to my opposition I will really appreciate it."
And in return her wrote me, "
ok sorry to hear that. We can certainly attempt to rent it but you do realize you only are obligated only until the end of March. This is bascially just another 60 days and you are already going to stay another 30 days anyhow.
If you do move out we will charge $200 for early lease termination even if we find a tenant prior to the 31st of March. Considering the only month you will not be staying is March it may make sense for you to try and figure out a way to live there through March if we can't find someone to take it over. This way you are not paying for an apartment you are not living in.
Either way just send a written notice with your plans.
I then wrote him,
"Okay I can figure something out since I only have one more month and do appreciate your help."
Thanks.

So I payed rent and on march 31st emailed him stating that I had cleaned the place out and where would he like me to drop the keys. In response he stated you didnt give me a 30 notice. Even though we had this email converstion which I though was my notice of leaving. He took my whole 1100 dollar security deposit saying that i because i didnt notify him 30 days in advance i responsible for the month of april even though I wasnt there and he charged me an additional 500 for cleaning and shampoo the carpet . Do I have a case if I take him to small claims court? and is the email sufficient enough as notification of leaving? Or what are my legal rights
Click to expand...

From what I see here, you did give the landlord 30 days notice that you were moving out! In fact you gave the landlord indication you would try to figure something out that would enable you to stay until the end of March which at the time of your initial letter, was 60 days! Unless such 30 day notice is suppose to be sent by certified mail, then normal mail or even email should be sufficient to meet the requirement I believe. Just my opinion though.

It would cost a little bit to file this in small claims, however, if you win then you get costs added onto the judgment! I'm very sorry the landlord cheated you! Good luck!
 
The email the OP sent only indicated difficulty with paying the rent on time- it was not a notice that the residence WOULD be vacated, as the OP only hinted at that option depending upon how finances came together. Not being able to pay the rent is not at all the same as intention to vacate. MANY renters remain for a long time after they stop paying rent!
Also, the notice should typically be done in writing (on paper), not in an email. Terms for giving proper notice should be outlined in the lease.
 
I have a question I decided to take my landlord to court but I have to serve him papers how can I do that if I dont have a mailing address only a po. Box and when I asked for a mailing address reciepts for the cleaning he doesnt respond. What should I do?
]Read your lease.
The words in your lease determine how notice must be given.
I'd be surprised if email transmissions are permitted.

You can take anyone you wish to court.
Will you be successful against your firmer landlord?
Probably not.
But, go ahead and try.[/QUOTE]
 
You should not waste your time and money. That is what you should NOT do.

I can assure you when you do find his address, and do end up in court, he will counter sue for the cleaning fees or whatever and you will walk out of court with a judgment against you because you will NOT win any money from the landlord. He/she did nothing wrong. You didn't provide proper notice to terminate the lease. You are best served to wash you hands from this, cut your losses, and hope he doesn't sue you on his own.

If he does, then you can counter sue if you want to be heard in court (without serving him), but you still will NOT win.
 
If anything, you may be able to recover your deposit if the landlord does not provide you with an itemized list indicating what the deposit was used for. The landlord has to provide you with this information within a few weeks time. If that time has passed (which it seems it has), even if there was legitimate damage, the landlord may be ordered to return your deposit plus penalties for failure to follow proper procedure.
This is only regarding your cleaning deposit. If there was a separate deposit for last month's rent you have lost that.
If the landlord wants to try and sue you for an additional $500 he will probably not be able to since you have not been given an itemized list of damages within the specified time. The landlord will be on the hook for that bill.

All things considered, it is probably easiest and cheapest for you to let it go. You won't get the bulk of this back, and if you get anything it won't be an amount that makes the small claims suit worth the effort.
 
What was date you returned keys? This was your vacancy date. Read the link I provided it discusses the law MM eludes to. Landlord has 21 days to get you itemized list of where deposit went. Much depend son when you gave Landlord keys and if he has any claims to monetary damages due to lack of notice
 
heyhi98 said:
I have a question I decided to take my landlord to court but I have to serve him papers how can I do that if I dont have a mailing address only a po. Box and when I asked for a mailing address reciepts for the cleaning he doesnt respond. What should I do?
]Read your lease.
The words in your lease determine how notice must be given.
I'd be surprised if email transmissions are permitted.

You can take anyone you wish to court.
Will you be successful against your firmer landlord?
Probably not.
But, go ahead and try.
Click to expand...
[/QUOTE]

I'm assuming the landlord is the owner so you can go to the county recorders office and get on the computer and type in his name and you will find that he owns the place you rented from and his address. Now you can serve him with the small claims complaint.

I believe that since you signed a one year lease, that when it ended at the end of March, you were not obligated to give 30 days notice to vacate. It would be up to the landlord to find out ahead of time if you wanted to renew the lease. Anyway, it was clear in your email that you would find a way to stay until the end of your lease.

This is my opinion and you can take it or leave it, but I if I was in your situation, I'd take it to small claims and explain to the judge about the email and that you did not renew your lease, but left when it ended. Also, explain how the landlord is also trying to charge you an outrageous fee for cleaning. Good luck and let us know the outcome.
 
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