My jurisdiction is: California
Hi all, I have a question about having my security deposit returned... I just moved out of an apartment I lived in for about 2 years, and the landlord claims the entire deposit needs to be kept to clean out the apartment (which admittedly was not clean, though I don't think the entire deposit should have been taken), but won't provide an itemized receipt. 21 days have already passed since I moved out, and as I understand it it is now within my right to sue him for return of the full deposit. However, there are a couple issues here that I think might make things complicated.
First of all, strictly speaking, we never actually paid a deposit. Before I moved into the apartment, my roommate lived there with another guy who was the only person on the lease at that time. This person had paid in a deposit. When he left the apartment, and my roommate and I signed onto the lease, we were told to pay a deposit to the previous tenant instead of to the landlord. In other words, we (instead of the landlord) were supposed to "return" the previous tenant's deposit to him, and this was supposed to serve as *our* deposit. Hopefully that makes sense.
Then, after one year, our lease ended but was not renewed. I was told we were on a "month-to-month" agreement, and we kept paying in the rent every month, but never signed any written contract stating that we were still renting the apartment. As far as I know it has been about a year since we have had any written agreement with the landlord.
Does any of this prevent me from pursuing the landlord for return of the deposit?
Thanks a lot for any help.
Hi all, I have a question about having my security deposit returned... I just moved out of an apartment I lived in for about 2 years, and the landlord claims the entire deposit needs to be kept to clean out the apartment (which admittedly was not clean, though I don't think the entire deposit should have been taken), but won't provide an itemized receipt. 21 days have already passed since I moved out, and as I understand it it is now within my right to sue him for return of the full deposit. However, there are a couple issues here that I think might make things complicated.
First of all, strictly speaking, we never actually paid a deposit. Before I moved into the apartment, my roommate lived there with another guy who was the only person on the lease at that time. This person had paid in a deposit. When he left the apartment, and my roommate and I signed onto the lease, we were told to pay a deposit to the previous tenant instead of to the landlord. In other words, we (instead of the landlord) were supposed to "return" the previous tenant's deposit to him, and this was supposed to serve as *our* deposit. Hopefully that makes sense.
Then, after one year, our lease ended but was not renewed. I was told we were on a "month-to-month" agreement, and we kept paying in the rent every month, but never signed any written contract stating that we were still renting the apartment. As far as I know it has been about a year since we have had any written agreement with the landlord.
Does any of this prevent me from pursuing the landlord for return of the deposit?
Thanks a lot for any help.
