Landlord Question and Answer Forum

I have a tenant that recently signed a 12 month lease in California then chose to move 2 months into the lease. He is somehow expecting to receive a full refund of his deposit. Does anyone know the law in California with regards to this? He was renting a room from. The lease stated no guess without prior written approval, as I have 2 small children and am concerned having people that I do not know in the house. Within the first month had people over without discussing with me. 2 week later his friend was too "drunk" to drive home ask he snuck him into the room and hoped I would not notice, never having discussed with me. At that point he decided he needed to be in a place where he could have friends, although we clearly discussed the guest policy before moving in and it was written on the lease. Any help is appreciate. He seems to think because I was able to rent the room out that he is due his entire deposit back. I decided to prorate his deposit return based on the amount of time he was here (2 of 12 months) and asked him to provide me with paypal account or let me know where to send check. He has not. I think this is getting a bit risky and have never had these problems before.

If he is breaking a 12 month lease that security should be yours so that it covers at least 30 days to find a new tenant, whether or not you already have one. Most likely they will not take you to court and if you notify him that not only did he break contract he also broke his lease by not following the rules and regulations of the contract that were plainly stated. You had the right to evict the tenant. If he does not respond then chances are they will drop it. The fact that you were prorating it for them shows that you are not being in any way unfair. Good Luck

Posted by Patty H, on Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Thank you Patty H. I did not evict the tenant, I actually tried to get him to discuss so we could come up with something that worked for both parties but he chose to break lease and move out. Some people say that in California, if you are able to immediately rent the room out then you can not keep the deposit. Wondering if you know for sure that you "can" in fact keep it for breaking lease and if so, what the law states? Lastly, he will not provide me with an paypal so that I can pay him. It's like he is trying to keep me from paying him so he can sue me? Strange.

Posted by Laura G, CA on Wednesday, October 22, 2014