cococabinda
New Member
PLEASE HELP!
When I signed a lease to live in my apartment almost 2 years ago, I did not see any clause that said it would automatically renew yearly. I never received a copy of the lease when I moved in, but upon requesting a copy last week received what appears to be a manipulated lease. In the Termination and Hold over paragraph it states in print that "said tenancy shall automatically convert to a (and then in handwriting: "NEW LEASE /yearly" followed by print
tenancy upon the expiration date of the fixed term in paragraph one above".
I definitely did not sign the lease to renew yearly, which is the reason why I believe this copy was manipulated (not to mention the clearly handwritten portion). But in any case I found California Civil Code 1945.5 which states:
"Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any term of a lease executed after the effective date of this section for the hiring of residential real property which provides for the automatic renewal or extension of the lease for all or part of the full term of
the lease if the lessee remains in possession after the expiration of the lease or fails to give notice of his intent not to renew or extend before the expiration of the lease shall be voidable by the party who did not prepare the lease unless such renewal or extension provision appears in at least eight-point boldface type, if the contract is printed, in the body of the lease agreement and a recital of the fact that such provision is contained in the body of the agreement appears in at least eight-point boldface type, if the contract is printed, immediately prior to the place where the lessee executes the agreement. In such case, the presumption in Section 1945
of this code shall apply.
Any waiver of the provisions of this section is void as against public policy."
This means an automatic renewal must be TYPED on a printed lease, which is clearly not the case. Nor does it have a "recital of the automatic renewal" at the end of the lease document above where I signed. My question is does this make my lease void and can I therefore, leave anytime? Because I wasn't planning on staying another full year!
I should also mention that after some research I've found out that my landlord has a history of keeping security deposits, and has been in the California Civil Court System 6 times for holding security deposits! Although it seems my lease is clearly void, I don't want to lose my security deposit out of their aggravation or scorn. Is there anything I can do to protect myself and my deposit??
*My landlords are also Vietnamese immigrants who speak little English, so I'm afraid that even if I recite to them California Law, they wouldn't understand. I'm a poor student who doesn't have the money to go to trial if they took my security deposit as well--and my landlord owns this building as well as 2 jewelry stores! Help!
**My lease also waives my right to trial by jury, landlord liability for injury, and a waiver which states: "Waiver by landlord of a breach of any covenant of this Agreement will not be construed to be a continuing waiver of any subsequent breach. Landlord's receipt of rent with knowledge of resident's violation of a covenant does not waive his rights to enforce any covenant of this Agreement. The invalidity or partial invalidity of any provision of the Agreement shall not render the remainder of the Agreement invalid or unenforceable"--IS THIS EVEN LEGAL???
When I signed a lease to live in my apartment almost 2 years ago, I did not see any clause that said it would automatically renew yearly. I never received a copy of the lease when I moved in, but upon requesting a copy last week received what appears to be a manipulated lease. In the Termination and Hold over paragraph it states in print that "said tenancy shall automatically convert to a (and then in handwriting: "NEW LEASE /yearly" followed by print
tenancy upon the expiration date of the fixed term in paragraph one above". I definitely did not sign the lease to renew yearly, which is the reason why I believe this copy was manipulated (not to mention the clearly handwritten portion). But in any case I found California Civil Code 1945.5 which states:
"Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any term of a lease executed after the effective date of this section for the hiring of residential real property which provides for the automatic renewal or extension of the lease for all or part of the full term of
the lease if the lessee remains in possession after the expiration of the lease or fails to give notice of his intent not to renew or extend before the expiration of the lease shall be voidable by the party who did not prepare the lease unless such renewal or extension provision appears in at least eight-point boldface type, if the contract is printed, in the body of the lease agreement and a recital of the fact that such provision is contained in the body of the agreement appears in at least eight-point boldface type, if the contract is printed, immediately prior to the place where the lessee executes the agreement. In such case, the presumption in Section 1945
of this code shall apply.
Any waiver of the provisions of this section is void as against public policy."
This means an automatic renewal must be TYPED on a printed lease, which is clearly not the case. Nor does it have a "recital of the automatic renewal" at the end of the lease document above where I signed. My question is does this make my lease void and can I therefore, leave anytime? Because I wasn't planning on staying another full year!
I should also mention that after some research I've found out that my landlord has a history of keeping security deposits, and has been in the California Civil Court System 6 times for holding security deposits! Although it seems my lease is clearly void, I don't want to lose my security deposit out of their aggravation or scorn. Is there anything I can do to protect myself and my deposit??
*My landlords are also Vietnamese immigrants who speak little English, so I'm afraid that even if I recite to them California Law, they wouldn't understand. I'm a poor student who doesn't have the money to go to trial if they took my security deposit as well--and my landlord owns this building as well as 2 jewelry stores! Help!
**My lease also waives my right to trial by jury, landlord liability for injury, and a waiver which states: "Waiver by landlord of a breach of any covenant of this Agreement will not be construed to be a continuing waiver of any subsequent breach. Landlord's receipt of rent with knowledge of resident's violation of a covenant does not waive his rights to enforce any covenant of this Agreement. The invalidity or partial invalidity of any provision of the Agreement shall not render the remainder of the Agreement invalid or unenforceable"--IS THIS EVEN LEGAL???
