Provisions for Lease Agreement, Security Deposit

[ensayne]

My jurisdiction is: California

Hello,

I've had some issues develop within the last month between me and my Landlord. Here are the details... Our lease was a year lease with an option to renew. Our lease began on July 1st of last year and ended accordingly on June 30th of this year:

1. Term: The initial term of this Lease shall begin on the 1st day of
July, 2008 ("Commencement Date"), and end on the 30th day of June, 2009


There are two sections within the lease which we would like to clarify with regards to the termination of the lease, a box is located to each section (A and B respectively). According to the lease, the landlord was supposed to check either/or box....she had checked both.

9. Early Termination.

[box] A. Right to Terminate Early: Provided Tenant is not in default
hereunder at the time of giving notice, has strictly complied with all
of the provisions of this paragraph, and termination is as of the last
day of a calendar month, Tenant may terminate this Lease before the
expiration of term of the Lease by:

1. Giving Landlord no less than 30 days notice on or before the day rent
is due as shown in Rent paragraph above; plus
2. Paying all monies due through DATE OF TERMINATION; plus (written in
interesting calligraphy "until rented to someone else with Owner's
approval."

[box] B. No right of early termination: Tenant shall not have the right to terminate this lease early.

My landlord is citing the bold portion as the provision which she claims:

(1) obligates me to find replacement tenants by the end of termination date.

and

(2) If I am unable to do so, I am responsible for amount for the rent due post the termination date even if I have vacated the premises, returned the keys, and sent a notice of my intent to vacate [which I did back in May].

In her own words: "CONTRACT HAS NOT EXPIRED - PER MANUAL ADDITION
Page 3of7: 2. Paying all monies due through date of termination; PLUS
UNTIL RENTED TO SOMEONE ELSE WITH OWNER'S APPROVAL."

So....now she asking for the months rent of July after we have moved out [she cites this as back rent] and after we stated would NOT renew back in May. Furthermore, when we have requested our security deposit by the legal limit, she said the following:

"Regarding your $2,000 DEPOSIT, You need to now be FLEXIBLE and not according to law because you need to ACCEPT YOUR TOTAL RESPONSIBILITY TO GET PLACE RENTED AND WITHOUT FURTHER DELAY."

She has said that her added provision has nothing to do with early termination, although it is clearly under that section....

Landlord's statement:

"Also because I checked both boxes and
refer only to LINE where we ADDED having to do with June 30, 2009, END OF
1st year LEASE to "ADD YOUR ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES that apply
AFTER June 30, 2009", AFTER THAT DATE of June 30, 2009."

She has also claimed that she told us verbally of this responsibility back in May, which she did not.

So my questions are [ranked in order of importance]: (1) Is her interpretation of the Lease flawed? (2) Are we responsible for rent after what seems to be the date of termination, if she is unable to find tenants? (3) If she does not mail our deposit back by July 21st, how strong of a case do we have against paying her "claimed" rent in July and getting our FULL deposit back? (4) Is there anything I should send her in formal writing in response to this?

THANKS SO MUCH!!!

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

This is confusing!

Most leases have an beginning and ending date (such as yours).

In many cases, the lease will contain a clause where it automatically renews (either for another year or on a monthly basis) UNLESS the tenant notifies the landlord of their intent not to renew within a certain time period (usually 30 to 60 days). Which it appears you have done.

Thus, you have covered "all the bases" in regards to your obligation to follow your lease.

Early termination requirements are for, well, just that...if you wished to break your lease early (before the June 30th deadline). This does not involve you since you completed your requirements for paying rent through the end of the lease.

Personally, I have NEVER heard of a lease that required a tenant to find a new tenant WHEN THEY HAVE COMPLETED THE OBLIGATIONS OF THEIR LEASE.

Your landlord can pound sand, legally speaking. If she does not return your security deposit within 21 days...and the reason for her withholding this is some notion that you owe rent for a month past your lease termination date...you have an excellent case against her in court.

Gail

 

[ensayne]

Thanks a bunch! I had second thoughts.

 

[ensayne]

Sorry about this. But I just want one last clarification...can the addition she made in bold in anyway, be interpreted as "the tenants must pay all rent money through the date of termination and until the tenants find new tenants"? I've finally deciphered what she is trying to say, and she's stating that the clause refers to any termination, because she checked both boxes and said "until," although she is completely disregarding the fact that it is in the early termination section. Granted, no reasonable prospective tenant would knowingly agree to such conditions/responsibilities. I've always thought that this clause meant that if one terminated early, one must pay through the date of termination or up until we are able to find replacements [which ever comes first], as this would be a reasonable interpretation of the clause.

Basically my questions come down to:

1) If her interpretation is correct: Is such a clause even legal, which binds the current tenant to find new tenants to replace them by the said termination date and if we don't the contract is somehow not terminated, and rent is still due unless replacements are found?

2) Does the fact that she placed the clause under early termination, and is attempting to apply it to "any termination" have any legal grounding? I believe she's trying to extend the reaches of her added clause to conform to her beliefs, but I just wanted an opinion. I was wondering because she keeps saying since we didn't find new tenants, we have breached her contract/clause and as a consequence not entitled to our security deposit.

I have already sent her a letter with regards to this matter, asking for the deposit within 5 days of the receipt of the letter or face a lawsuit, and she responded saying that she will counter for July and until the place is rented plus legal fees, which is slightly intimidating for a young college student without the funds.

Thanks again for your valuable time once again Gail, I definitely appreciate your effort and the efforts of others on this forum!

-Mr. Worried