Landlord Question and Answer Forum

I had a tenant on a years lease. He paid a deposit and last months lease. He moved his mother in, at the end of his lease, and we have been on a month to month for a year. He has since moved out and I am doing a new lease for Mom. I have been told that he wants the deposit and last month's rent to be rolled over to Mom's account. 1. Will it be sufficient to get a signed agreement from him directing me to use his deposit for his mother's lease? 2. He did not give me proper notice of leaving the property, but the rent did continue to come from his mother. Is last's month's rent legally refundable in any way if the lease signer has not given notice? Is it refundable, period? I am willing to give Mom credit for the last months rent paid by her son, but I do not want to find out later that I must refund it to him. Again, is a signed agreement with him enough to protect me?

Whenever a tenant leaves whether it's because the lease has expired or because they are terminating the lease early, the landlord is obligated to give an account of the Security Deposit and any monies held. Having him put something in writing is a good idea, but an even better idea is providing him with the proper Security deposit accounting form where you can account for both the security deposit and the last month's rent. You can show on the form that the deposit and last month's rent was transferred to his mother's account. The new lease for the mom should also indicate that the Security deposit was transferred from previous tenant (son).

Posted by Carolyn S, CA on Friday, March 21, 2014

I agree with what Carolyn said. Also, I discussed it with my agent at Tropicana Realty and even he stated that you must get everything in writing, be it related to the change in lease or the financing.

Posted by ryan h, TX on Wednesday, March 26, 2014