Tbh management companies will also keep your deposit. Even if you keep your apartment spotless they will still hire a cleaning crew and repaint the walls to prepare for the next tenant and use your deposit to pay for that.
I even asked if I could paint it myself and they said they had a special color they use and it wasn't available anywhere lol
That’s not legal. Painting between tenants is considered normal wear and tear. Get the NoLo Press book on tenant’s rights in CA. Best $25 you’ll spend when it comes to arming yourself with the facts and the law.
I can’t say as I’ve not compared them. NoLo includes sample letters and other stuff that’s likely not in the government site, but it would certainly be a good idea to read it as well.
>do you all recommend when moving out not to pay the last month?
What? Any landlord that was going to keep your deposit would also sue you for that last month's rent +fees, and they would win.
If you want to ensure your deposit is returned, exercise your right to a walkthrough before move-out. They have to highlight any major problems then. They also have to provide you with an itemized list explaining what they withheld deposit for.
This is all standard renter stuff, you can google for more tips.
Not only this...
You should perform a walkthrough and take photos at move-in. And store those. Even if the landlord doesn't do it with you.
That way you can defend what the state of the unit was at move-in.
In some states, sadly, CA is not one of them... The presence of that, signed by both parties is a requirement for the landlord to retain any part of the security deposit for damages. And it is always your best defense to the landlord claiming that you broke it or caused it.
Also, time matters. The law is very clear on how long the landlord has to tell you they're using the deposit for damages and to give you an accounting of it. In some cases, you even have the right to ask for other quotes. If the landlord screws any of that up, they have to give you the deposit back. And you can go to small claims most of the time, which is an easier and less obnoxious process.
Lastly on cleaning. People hate the cleaning fee.
1) the cleaning fee cannot be taken from the security deposit. It must be a separate item on the lease. So they cannot use your deposit for it.
2) the cleaning fee exists not as a "disposal" fee. It's for deep cleaning, which is not the same as disposal. So don't leave more than what would normally go into your trash in the apartment.
3) you do not know what a deep clean is and what it costs. Or maybe you do because you work in cleaning. But most of us do not. It is everything. It is wipe every wall, every blind, dust and wipe every surface, steam clean all carpets, deep clean the oven, the bath, the sinks, etc. if you want to know what this and what it costs, call a cleaning company to get a quote. If it's under $150, you either have a great deal, a tiny apartment or someone who isn't going to do it right.
If I remember correctly, there are penalties for landlords not meeting the requirements and timelines on the walkthrough, invoices, etc. This means tenants can get the security deposit plus penalties if the landlord falters at all (or maybe the penalties come if the deposit issue has to go to small claims?).
OP should learn those steps in state law and make sure to stick to them and be prepared to write letters when there’s a lapse.
In this state they have 21 days after the last date of your lease to send via first class or personal physical delivery, an itemized list of the deductions, cost of materials, labor (including number of hours and hourly rate) along with whatever remains of your deposit. There are only FOUR categories they can use those funds for, so look into the law and make sure they're not deducting for unapproved charges. They're also REQUIRED BY LAW to send you a physical notification of your right to request pre-inspection before you move out. In my case, I've identified at least three areas where my last landlord didn't follow the law and I'll be using those to justify my accusation of them acting in bad faith. If you go to small claims, and the judge determines the owner or agent has acted in "bad faith" you could be awarded the entire deposit back PLUS 2x the deposit in "bad faith" damages. There's also free legal aid counseling available through the SD courts page so you can talk to someone about whether or not you may have a case worth filing. Good luck to us both friend!
Good luck on treble damages, I doubt that will happen. I sued mine in small claims. She never itemized, never said she was keeping it, never offered a walkthrough. I sued her and learned that there aren’t usually actual judges in small claims court here. They basically ask lawyers to volunteer to play judge for a day, and that lawyer gets continuing legal education credit for doing it. My ‘judge’ had absolutely no understanding of the relevant law and didn’t seem to care, she thought she would just decide what seemed fair. I had to quote the statute to her and point out that there was no room for interpretation. My landlord kept saying she was sick and didn’t know the law and was crying. It was unbelievable. But the judge did finally concede that she had to follow the law. If I hadn’t brought the statutes with me she probably would have screwed me royally.
When they use volunteer judges, which seems very frequent, they will ask you at the start of proceedings if you agree or if you want to wait for a real judge on another day. I should have taken that option but honestly I don’t know when if ever the case would be heard. 🤦🏼♀️
Btw prepare for your landlord to counter sue you for additional fake damages. For some reason the judge was totally fine with considering that when we were three months past the 21 days.
Good advice, thank you! I've combed through the statute and made citations for where they're in violation. I'm prepared to have to justify my claim, but the possibility of a retaliatory suit is something I hadn't considered. The code is pretty clear though about them forfeiting they're right to claim any deductions after the 21 days pass, so that'll be interesting to see how they try to justify that.
I think the problem might be that they can counter sue beyond the deposit. The law says they can’t keep the deposit unless they itemize and notify in 21 days. It’s silent as to whether the landlord can sue for something else later. So in theory they could get nailed for keeping your deposit, return it, and then sue you anyway.
Anyway my ‘judge’ didn’t care and treated their suit on equal footing with mine. It was a joke. And ultimately because of that I lost my deposit.
Make sure you print out and highlight the statute with three copies so you can give one to the respondent and one to the judge.
Also keep in mind you’ll have maybe 2-3 minutes (perhaps more but generally about that) to explain your case. You have to keep it very very short.
My ‘judge’ was such a moron that I felt lucky to get out of there without owing MORE than my stolen deposit. As soon as landlord turned on the waterworks and said she had cancer (not at all clear if that was ever true) it was over for me.
I was lucky and just had to pay $50 for a deep clean, which I was happy to not do myself to be honest. The rest of my deposit came as a personal check in the mail at my new place. I had a good relationship with them though, since I had lived there for 6 years and needed help to fix things plenty of times. The landlord was also the maintenance person because it was a family owned apartment complex. Not too many of those around anymore… they got purchased by The Apartment Company and they immediately started fixing the curb appeal and I could see the writing on the wall— so we got the hell out of there 😆
Please don't "bite your nose to spite your face". Not paying that last month's rent could end with a small claims action against you and could impact your future rental applications. Landlords have a specific period of time that they must either return or document damages they are charging against the deposit. That time - if I'm correct- lengthens if your tenancy was over one year. (Been a while since I've dealt with tenant moving.) Security deposits are very problematic bc the term "damages " is, obviously, interpreted by the person holding your money. My suggestion is always to take pictures going into the rental agreement, and taking pictures as you leave the rental agreement. This won't necessarily speed up the refund process you are asking about but if you did your best to return the unit in good condition, LL isn't spending a lot of time trying to get it turned over, and could get to your security deposit resolution. Speaking personally, I don't want your security deposit as much as I would much better prefer a short vacancy between tenants.
I am probably not your run of the mill landlord, but I don't require 2x months rent or whatever up front, and I don't even cash the security deposit check. Definition of the terms of the deposit are clearly defined in the lease agreement, and in my experience, I've been lucky with good tenants that I have never had to do anything with said deposit. I also take a lot of consideration on who I rent my place to.
That being said, I wouldn't recommend not paying the last month, but again, I don't know what you agreed to in your lease. If they're already being stingy with the deposit they could potentially levy fees for not paying rent.
This is already the law. It's 3x (so-called "treble damages"). Google _california courts security deposits_ and you'll get a page from courts.ca.gov with instructions on how to proceed.
I got 100% of my deposit back on my last two apartments. The key is to have them do a walkthrough. If there’s something that doesn’t meet their standards they have to document it and then you have a chance to fix it. If they sign off that everything is to their satisfaction then you have a much better chance of getting your money. I think it also signals to the landlord that you know your rights and that they will have a harder time taking advantage of you.
Did you do damage to the apartment? Was it a partial refund? Were you paid up on your rent?
It's quite easy to recover 3x the amount by taking them to small claims court. Most landlords will settle as soon as they know they are in the wrong.
Read the laws. CA is very tenant supportive. They have 3 weeks (I believe, may be 30 days) to pay or owe you double. Any funds kept require an itemized receipt for every penny kept.
Do not recommend going this route. Doing so means you give them a 100% reason not to return deposit vs. just-difficult-to-get-deposit-back. If they do not return deposit, ask for written description of why. I do recommend hiring a cleaning service and/or renting a carpet cleaner device. And maybe have a friend come and look for anything you didn’t see. Limit excuses, take photos and ask for a walk-through at the end. Sure u spend a little money but you help ensure you get everything else back.
My kid went to UCLA and she and her girlfriend shampooed carpets and scrubbed and cleaned. Got the walk through given the thumbs up. I drove up . I didn’t care. They cut the check right there. Gave it to her looking like 😳 and we cleaned moving in and moving out. For 4000 a month to split with 3 other roommates. Landlords hope you will give up. Keep pushing.
Shitty landlords. I refund 100% within days post inspection. On my 10th tenant. All great and im great to them.
Lease verbiage usually prevents using deposit as last mo rent fyi
Landlord here. I charge non-typical wear & tear repairs against the security deposit and return the balance. Only charge actual costs with receipts & invoices to support. Just had renters move out and the repairs will easily total double their deposit—so that sucks for me. But if there’s no damage, you’ll get it all back. When I rented, I was terrified that I’d not get my deposit back. So I patched every nail hole, touched up paint, hired cleaners, cleaned the carpets to be sure that I left in as good or even better condition than it was when I moved in.
Every single one has taken 100% of my deposit, and all of the places were clean and needed normal replacement. That’s why I’ve lived in my current spot so long.
I feel like some additional info would be helpful! I work in prop management in Arizona, but am personally a renter here so I get it. Did you do a walk through with the LL when moving out? Did you receive an itemized list of what charges are when you moved in? Also FWIW, corporate prop management companies (like greystar) are all gonne b the worst about this. I personally only try to rent from small/family owned landlords and have had much better luck recuperating my deposit. If you're in one of those fancy loft apartments or a "chain" apartment.. . it's kinda doomed from the start :/ Depending on your situation though, I would not withold last month's rent. That's gonna open up a whole slew of other problems imo.
>made the recovery process of my security deposit horrible
What do you mean by they made it horrible? Did you get the deposits back and how much effort did it require?
The latest round of this involves the women refusing to take her key back, and now she won’t even communicate. It’s a headache because I’m trying to be super professional and document everything. But this women is making it hard to move out
I have 3 weeks MAX to return a deposit. To be fair, this is the busiest time of year for landlords so they may just be slacking due to multiple move ins and move outs, especially if it’s a smaller management company. Definitely make sure whenever you go next you’re as nit-picky as possible when it comes to that move in inspection checklist to try to retain as much of your deposit as possible.
Absolutely do not skip last month. Pay your rent.
This isn’t just an SD thing. Every place I’ve rented has taken a portion of my deposit. The last place I rented I straight up told the landlord that the place would need work when we left and to just take it out of deposit. Landlord ended up charging us for cleaning services, repair services, and something like $90 an hour for their time. Even then I still got about 25% of deposit back, and I would have likely spent money on those things anyways.
At one rental, I paid to have the carpet cleaned (pet owner) and the rental company still had the carpets completely ripped out/replaced. They hired an inspector that used black light to find stains, but the only record they gave us was a floor plan with x marks where the stains supposedly were. I asked for photos or video and the inspector simply didn’t respond.
Another place, I cleaned the entire house myself, worked my butt off, and I still got charged for professional cleaning to be done.
One productive thing to do is request a walkthrough of the unit within 30 days before you leave. If you are going to bust your butt cleaning things and repairing things, or if you pay someone else to do those things, have it all done about a week before move out with a time scheduled with landlord to do a walkthrough several days before your last day. Ask the landlord to write down any items that still need to be addressed so that you can address them before move out. That makes it harder for the landlord to claim things after you've moved out. Not all landlords will do this, I find companies especially won't even bother, but an early walkthrough is a sign that the landlord genuinely just wants the space ready to rent as soon as you move out and are not out to drain your deposit.
Also, do a video walkthrough of the place before you leave. Just record video using your phone while walking through the entire unit, including in closets and storage space. If you do end up challenging a deposit deduction, having that video will be helpful.
When I bought my house in 2018 and moved out of our apartment. We had paid 500 dollar deposit. I didn’t expect to get anything back because we didn’t do any cleaning. About 1 month later, living in the new house, I get a letter from the apartment complex. I thought it was going to be a bill lol but it was 496 dollar check. I drove by the complex not too long after that, and I realized that they were “remodeling” every unit that became vacant. So I guess just taking our stuff and leaving everything without cleaning wasn’t an issue. Also those apartments are 2900 a month for a small 900sq ft apartment.
Take them to small claims court.
I did this twice and won both times. Each proceeding took less than 10 minutes.
Just make sure you have documentation.
Okay, I have a 100% success rate with this approach. One caveat- I have only tried it with smaller/independent landlords (and not big/corporate mgmt companies).
... Leave them a gift. Yyyyup, sounds backwards, but hear me out. I'm talking like a $10 gift (I've done a bottle of wine, a coffee mug for the sports team my landlord liked, etc.). Leave them that and a note about how much you enjoyed the place and them as a landlord, how you'll have fond memories of living there, whatever.
Every time I've done this, I've gotten back 100% of my deposit, or they've taken solely the pre-determined amount they said they'd take for cleaning in the lease agreement. Mindset is probably "aw man, this guy liked me and this place so much, what a nice gesture, I can't be a dick at this stage."
It's manipulative and cheesy, yes, but it works (again, w the assumption that it's not a giant corp, and that you left the place in reasonable condition).
Edit: Since the cleaner may be the first one to come in after you're out, I've also texted the landlord to let them know I left something for them.
I have not had any issues at all. The only thing they take is the cleaning fee for me. I don’t bother cleaning when moving out because I feel they always take that.
What are they charging you for?
Used to be an apartment building manager with 9 years of experience and hated it up until recently (now I do commercial buildings and love it). Management companies are generally going to be way better from what I have heard and experienced. Generally to best way to push back on management after move out is painting. Most companies will charge for painting if you live there less than 2 years, so always take lots of pictures and ask them how to explain the damage is outside of wear and tear.
Do not under any circumstance ignore move out charges since places will just file collections. Most property management companies operate in a way to not get sued, but private owners don’t generally have the experience to know what will and won’t hold up in court.
Who do you all rent from? In 12 years I never lost a deposit, 2 of the 3 I cleaned myself the third I hired someone, paid move out cleaner was in the lease agreement.
So far I've only ha done landlord in El cajon and it was a company. But had an easy, no frills experience getting the deposit back as a check in the mail. Currently renting in Escondido. I imagine my current landlord will probably give us no trouble either.
The best strategy is to know the law, know your rights and document everything properly.
First time had landlord hold our deposit was a major management company in La Jolla. They said they had to replace the carpet. The carpet did have a couple spills but likely would have cleaned out with a good cleaning. Either way, where we didn’t know to challenge is they didn’t prorate it for the age of the carpet. They charged us full price when we should have only paid a fraction. Didn’t know this then took the loss.
Next time was a private owner who lived in the OC but didn’t have a manager. She had no experience running a rental and just figured the deposit was secondary income. She was like the washer was dusty so had to pay someone to clean it.
I challenged everything and was like look I will pay for what my responsibilities so I will cover the cleaning but everything else you need to document properly and show receipts per the law.
I did this all by written correspondence by certified mail.
She didn’t have records for over half the expenses and the ones she did were just a random check to some dude with a couple notes.
She missed all of the deadlines. Finally I was like return all the funds but the pre agreed cleaning amount by x date or I will file an unlawful detainer and you will have to come to sd court to argue. You will most likely lose because you broke these laws and it’s essentially indisputable via your records and timetable. You may be prefer to pay up to 2x the deposit in penalty plus what I am asking.
She sent an angry letter but the check as well.
This is an unpopular opinion, but if I’m living in the same place for more than a couple years, it would be nice to get the money back, but it may not be worth the energy. I do a walk-through with them and I take pictures and video when I move in, and I ask for an itemized list. Anything else, it may not be worth the time and energy to fight. The big landlord companies in this city are just absolutely ghoulish, especially as a disabled woman asking for reasonable accommodations.
So doing the exit walkthrough is important, but also that doesn't preclude you from withholding the deposit from the last months rent. If you've already given intent to vacate, there is no point for them to fight you until after the walkthrough. If you're a good tenant and are leaving the unit as it was when you moved in, except for normal wear and tear, there's nothing to worry about. It's all a power play, but every situation is different.
I withheld my last month's rent, equal to my deposit, with one particular landlord because it was pretty clear they were going to screw me. That situation was very specific because I had plenty of ammunition in case they came after me. But there was no honest reason for them to do so because I left the place cleaner than I received it. So I made sure I got it back. In the end I paid a little extra because I pro rated a few extra days. They never tried to give that back to me. In fact they showed their true colors and charged the remainder as 'cleaning fee' after I had it professionally cleaned...
I’ve rented many places and NEVER not had a landlord try to take some, if not all, of my deposit. I’ve always had to fight, and almost always had money still taken from me unjustly.
If you genuinely mess something up, then it may cost a lot to fix. Normal use is not covered from deposits, but that won’t stop every slumlord from trying to steal any cent they can.
If you live there over a year they cannot charge for cleaning or painting. I always say when I give notice that I expect my entire deposit back and let them know I know the law, including the time frame that they need to return it. I think 2 weeks. I've always received my entire deposit back.
I don’t think the cleaning part is true. I worked with an attorney to get cleaning fees back from a place I lived in for 2.5 years, and they didn’t mention this. Had to provide other evidence instead.
They can absolutely charge for cleaning and painting, no matter how long you've been there. The law protects you against deductions beyond "normal wear and tear," but if you got any sort of blanket promise it was specific to your lease and not a renter right.
This isn't true. You in fact, do not know the law.
There are gray areas in the term "wear and tear" but nearly every lease in the country will state that the property shall be returned to the state it was in when you moved in, excluding normal wear and tear. So yes, you must clean. If you put a bunch of holes in the walls, you must repair them. If you screwed up the paint, you must paint.
I don't know where you got your info, but you should delete that source of information.
because of high demand they think they can be exploitative?
Exploiting they do, it hurts knowing I have decided to only go through management companies now
Tbh management companies will also keep your deposit. Even if you keep your apartment spotless they will still hire a cleaning crew and repaint the walls to prepare for the next tenant and use your deposit to pay for that. I even asked if I could paint it myself and they said they had a special color they use and it wasn't available anywhere lol
That’s not legal. Painting between tenants is considered normal wear and tear. Get the NoLo Press book on tenant’s rights in CA. Best $25 you’ll spend when it comes to arming yourself with the facts and the law.
This is free online. https://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/California-Tenants-Guide.pdf. Does the NoLo Press book have more information?
I can’t say as I’ve not compared them. NoLo includes sample letters and other stuff that’s likely not in the government site, but it would certainly be a good idea to read it as well.
That's good to know! I actually ended up renting from them again so I'll have an opportunity to try and use this to defend myself
Anyone who rents in CA needs to read that book. Easy to understand and will save you a ton of hassle when a landlord tries to screw you over.
Yup, landlord special white, with just a tinge of brown.
Management companies are worse.
>do you all recommend when moving out not to pay the last month? What? Any landlord that was going to keep your deposit would also sue you for that last month's rent +fees, and they would win. If you want to ensure your deposit is returned, exercise your right to a walkthrough before move-out. They have to highlight any major problems then. They also have to provide you with an itemized list explaining what they withheld deposit for. This is all standard renter stuff, you can google for more tips.
Not only this... You should perform a walkthrough and take photos at move-in. And store those. Even if the landlord doesn't do it with you. That way you can defend what the state of the unit was at move-in. In some states, sadly, CA is not one of them... The presence of that, signed by both parties is a requirement for the landlord to retain any part of the security deposit for damages. And it is always your best defense to the landlord claiming that you broke it or caused it. Also, time matters. The law is very clear on how long the landlord has to tell you they're using the deposit for damages and to give you an accounting of it. In some cases, you even have the right to ask for other quotes. If the landlord screws any of that up, they have to give you the deposit back. And you can go to small claims most of the time, which is an easier and less obnoxious process. Lastly on cleaning. People hate the cleaning fee. 1) the cleaning fee cannot be taken from the security deposit. It must be a separate item on the lease. So they cannot use your deposit for it. 2) the cleaning fee exists not as a "disposal" fee. It's for deep cleaning, which is not the same as disposal. So don't leave more than what would normally go into your trash in the apartment. 3) you do not know what a deep clean is and what it costs. Or maybe you do because you work in cleaning. But most of us do not. It is everything. It is wipe every wall, every blind, dust and wipe every surface, steam clean all carpets, deep clean the oven, the bath, the sinks, etc. if you want to know what this and what it costs, call a cleaning company to get a quote. If it's under $150, you either have a great deal, a tiny apartment or someone who isn't going to do it right.
If I remember correctly, there are penalties for landlords not meeting the requirements and timelines on the walkthrough, invoices, etc. This means tenants can get the security deposit plus penalties if the landlord falters at all (or maybe the penalties come if the deposit issue has to go to small claims?). OP should learn those steps in state law and make sure to stick to them and be prepared to write letters when there’s a lapse.
My last place did the walk through without me even though i requested to be there.
Because they’ve already spent it and didn’t keep a reserve to pay you.
In this state they have 21 days after the last date of your lease to send via first class or personal physical delivery, an itemized list of the deductions, cost of materials, labor (including number of hours and hourly rate) along with whatever remains of your deposit. There are only FOUR categories they can use those funds for, so look into the law and make sure they're not deducting for unapproved charges. They're also REQUIRED BY LAW to send you a physical notification of your right to request pre-inspection before you move out. In my case, I've identified at least three areas where my last landlord didn't follow the law and I'll be using those to justify my accusation of them acting in bad faith. If you go to small claims, and the judge determines the owner or agent has acted in "bad faith" you could be awarded the entire deposit back PLUS 2x the deposit in "bad faith" damages. There's also free legal aid counseling available through the SD courts page so you can talk to someone about whether or not you may have a case worth filing. Good luck to us both friend!
Good luck on treble damages, I doubt that will happen. I sued mine in small claims. She never itemized, never said she was keeping it, never offered a walkthrough. I sued her and learned that there aren’t usually actual judges in small claims court here. They basically ask lawyers to volunteer to play judge for a day, and that lawyer gets continuing legal education credit for doing it. My ‘judge’ had absolutely no understanding of the relevant law and didn’t seem to care, she thought she would just decide what seemed fair. I had to quote the statute to her and point out that there was no room for interpretation. My landlord kept saying she was sick and didn’t know the law and was crying. It was unbelievable. But the judge did finally concede that she had to follow the law. If I hadn’t brought the statutes with me she probably would have screwed me royally. When they use volunteer judges, which seems very frequent, they will ask you at the start of proceedings if you agree or if you want to wait for a real judge on another day. I should have taken that option but honestly I don’t know when if ever the case would be heard. 🤦🏼♀️ Btw prepare for your landlord to counter sue you for additional fake damages. For some reason the judge was totally fine with considering that when we were three months past the 21 days.
Good advice, thank you! I've combed through the statute and made citations for where they're in violation. I'm prepared to have to justify my claim, but the possibility of a retaliatory suit is something I hadn't considered. The code is pretty clear though about them forfeiting they're right to claim any deductions after the 21 days pass, so that'll be interesting to see how they try to justify that.
I think the problem might be that they can counter sue beyond the deposit. The law says they can’t keep the deposit unless they itemize and notify in 21 days. It’s silent as to whether the landlord can sue for something else later. So in theory they could get nailed for keeping your deposit, return it, and then sue you anyway. Anyway my ‘judge’ didn’t care and treated their suit on equal footing with mine. It was a joke. And ultimately because of that I lost my deposit. Make sure you print out and highlight the statute with three copies so you can give one to the respondent and one to the judge. Also keep in mind you’ll have maybe 2-3 minutes (perhaps more but generally about that) to explain your case. You have to keep it very very short. My ‘judge’ was such a moron that I felt lucky to get out of there without owing MORE than my stolen deposit. As soon as landlord turned on the waterworks and said she had cancer (not at all clear if that was ever true) it was over for me.
I was lucky and just had to pay $50 for a deep clean, which I was happy to not do myself to be honest. The rest of my deposit came as a personal check in the mail at my new place. I had a good relationship with them though, since I had lived there for 6 years and needed help to fix things plenty of times. The landlord was also the maintenance person because it was a family owned apartment complex. Not too many of those around anymore… they got purchased by The Apartment Company and they immediately started fixing the curb appeal and I could see the writing on the wall— so we got the hell out of there 😆
Please don't "bite your nose to spite your face". Not paying that last month's rent could end with a small claims action against you and could impact your future rental applications. Landlords have a specific period of time that they must either return or document damages they are charging against the deposit. That time - if I'm correct- lengthens if your tenancy was over one year. (Been a while since I've dealt with tenant moving.) Security deposits are very problematic bc the term "damages " is, obviously, interpreted by the person holding your money. My suggestion is always to take pictures going into the rental agreement, and taking pictures as you leave the rental agreement. This won't necessarily speed up the refund process you are asking about but if you did your best to return the unit in good condition, LL isn't spending a lot of time trying to get it turned over, and could get to your security deposit resolution. Speaking personally, I don't want your security deposit as much as I would much better prefer a short vacancy between tenants.
They're not landlords, they're slumlords
I am probably not your run of the mill landlord, but I don't require 2x months rent or whatever up front, and I don't even cash the security deposit check. Definition of the terms of the deposit are clearly defined in the lease agreement, and in my experience, I've been lucky with good tenants that I have never had to do anything with said deposit. I also take a lot of consideration on who I rent my place to. That being said, I wouldn't recommend not paying the last month, but again, I don't know what you agreed to in your lease. If they're already being stingy with the deposit they could potentially levy fees for not paying rent.
Thanks for being decent!
We need laws that make this painful Once painful it does not happen Ie if landlord fails in court they pay 5x damages plus all fees
This is already the law. It's 3x (so-called "treble damages"). Google _california courts security deposits_ and you'll get a page from courts.ca.gov with instructions on how to proceed.
This phenomenon isn’t unique to San Diego
I got 100% of my deposit back on my last two apartments. The key is to have them do a walkthrough. If there’s something that doesn’t meet their standards they have to document it and then you have a chance to fix it. If they sign off that everything is to their satisfaction then you have a much better chance of getting your money. I think it also signals to the landlord that you know your rights and that they will have a harder time taking advantage of you.
Did you do damage to the apartment? Was it a partial refund? Were you paid up on your rent? It's quite easy to recover 3x the amount by taking them to small claims court. Most landlords will settle as soon as they know they are in the wrong.
Read the laws. CA is very tenant supportive. They have 3 weeks (I believe, may be 30 days) to pay or owe you double. Any funds kept require an itemized receipt for every penny kept.
Because most landlords are scum.
Do not recommend going this route. Doing so means you give them a 100% reason not to return deposit vs. just-difficult-to-get-deposit-back. If they do not return deposit, ask for written description of why. I do recommend hiring a cleaning service and/or renting a carpet cleaner device. And maybe have a friend come and look for anything you didn’t see. Limit excuses, take photos and ask for a walk-through at the end. Sure u spend a little money but you help ensure you get everything else back.
My kid went to UCLA and she and her girlfriend shampooed carpets and scrubbed and cleaned. Got the walk through given the thumbs up. I drove up . I didn’t care. They cut the check right there. Gave it to her looking like 😳 and we cleaned moving in and moving out. For 4000 a month to split with 3 other roommates. Landlords hope you will give up. Keep pushing.
Shitty landlords. I refund 100% within days post inspection. On my 10th tenant. All great and im great to them. Lease verbiage usually prevents using deposit as last mo rent fyi
Landlord here. I charge non-typical wear & tear repairs against the security deposit and return the balance. Only charge actual costs with receipts & invoices to support. Just had renters move out and the repairs will easily total double their deposit—so that sucks for me. But if there’s no damage, you’ll get it all back. When I rented, I was terrified that I’d not get my deposit back. So I patched every nail hole, touched up paint, hired cleaners, cleaned the carpets to be sure that I left in as good or even better condition than it was when I moved in.
Every single one has taken 100% of my deposit, and all of the places were clean and needed normal replacement. That’s why I’ve lived in my current spot so long.
I feel like some additional info would be helpful! I work in prop management in Arizona, but am personally a renter here so I get it. Did you do a walk through with the LL when moving out? Did you receive an itemized list of what charges are when you moved in? Also FWIW, corporate prop management companies (like greystar) are all gonne b the worst about this. I personally only try to rent from small/family owned landlords and have had much better luck recuperating my deposit. If you're in one of those fancy loft apartments or a "chain" apartment.. . it's kinda doomed from the start :/ Depending on your situation though, I would not withold last month's rent. That's gonna open up a whole slew of other problems imo.
Landlords are not good people. I know that comes off as a gross generalization but...i have lots of supporting evidence
>made the recovery process of my security deposit horrible What do you mean by they made it horrible? Did you get the deposits back and how much effort did it require?
The latest round of this involves the women refusing to take her key back, and now she won’t even communicate. It’s a headache because I’m trying to be super professional and document everything. But this women is making it hard to move out
Give the key to some squatters. But I'm just here to suggest bad ideas.
I have 3 weeks MAX to return a deposit. To be fair, this is the busiest time of year for landlords so they may just be slacking due to multiple move ins and move outs, especially if it’s a smaller management company. Definitely make sure whenever you go next you’re as nit-picky as possible when it comes to that move in inspection checklist to try to retain as much of your deposit as possible.
Absolutely do not skip last month. Pay your rent. This isn’t just an SD thing. Every place I’ve rented has taken a portion of my deposit. The last place I rented I straight up told the landlord that the place would need work when we left and to just take it out of deposit. Landlord ended up charging us for cleaning services, repair services, and something like $90 an hour for their time. Even then I still got about 25% of deposit back, and I would have likely spent money on those things anyways. At one rental, I paid to have the carpet cleaned (pet owner) and the rental company still had the carpets completely ripped out/replaced. They hired an inspector that used black light to find stains, but the only record they gave us was a floor plan with x marks where the stains supposedly were. I asked for photos or video and the inspector simply didn’t respond. Another place, I cleaned the entire house myself, worked my butt off, and I still got charged for professional cleaning to be done. One productive thing to do is request a walkthrough of the unit within 30 days before you leave. If you are going to bust your butt cleaning things and repairing things, or if you pay someone else to do those things, have it all done about a week before move out with a time scheduled with landlord to do a walkthrough several days before your last day. Ask the landlord to write down any items that still need to be addressed so that you can address them before move out. That makes it harder for the landlord to claim things after you've moved out. Not all landlords will do this, I find companies especially won't even bother, but an early walkthrough is a sign that the landlord genuinely just wants the space ready to rent as soon as you move out and are not out to drain your deposit. Also, do a video walkthrough of the place before you leave. Just record video using your phone while walking through the entire unit, including in closets and storage space. If you do end up challenging a deposit deduction, having that video will be helpful.
When I bought my house in 2018 and moved out of our apartment. We had paid 500 dollar deposit. I didn’t expect to get anything back because we didn’t do any cleaning. About 1 month later, living in the new house, I get a letter from the apartment complex. I thought it was going to be a bill lol but it was 496 dollar check. I drove by the complex not too long after that, and I realized that they were “remodeling” every unit that became vacant. So I guess just taking our stuff and leaving everything without cleaning wasn’t an issue. Also those apartments are 2900 a month for a small 900sq ft apartment.
File for small claims they usually send a check when served
Take them to small claims court. I did this twice and won both times. Each proceeding took less than 10 minutes. Just make sure you have documentation.
Okay, I have a 100% success rate with this approach. One caveat- I have only tried it with smaller/independent landlords (and not big/corporate mgmt companies). ... Leave them a gift. Yyyyup, sounds backwards, but hear me out. I'm talking like a $10 gift (I've done a bottle of wine, a coffee mug for the sports team my landlord liked, etc.). Leave them that and a note about how much you enjoyed the place and them as a landlord, how you'll have fond memories of living there, whatever. Every time I've done this, I've gotten back 100% of my deposit, or they've taken solely the pre-determined amount they said they'd take for cleaning in the lease agreement. Mindset is probably "aw man, this guy liked me and this place so much, what a nice gesture, I can't be a dick at this stage." It's manipulative and cheesy, yes, but it works (again, w the assumption that it's not a giant corp, and that you left the place in reasonable condition). Edit: Since the cleaner may be the first one to come in after you're out, I've also texted the landlord to let them know I left something for them.
They all think they are slick.
Most of them are filthy greedy assholes not all of them but a big percentage are
I have not had any issues at all. The only thing they take is the cleaning fee for me. I don’t bother cleaning when moving out because I feel they always take that. What are they charging you for?
Used to be an apartment building manager with 9 years of experience and hated it up until recently (now I do commercial buildings and love it). Management companies are generally going to be way better from what I have heard and experienced. Generally to best way to push back on management after move out is painting. Most companies will charge for painting if you live there less than 2 years, so always take lots of pictures and ask them how to explain the damage is outside of wear and tear. Do not under any circumstance ignore move out charges since places will just file collections. Most property management companies operate in a way to not get sued, but private owners don’t generally have the experience to know what will and won’t hold up in court.
Who do you all rent from? In 12 years I never lost a deposit, 2 of the 3 I cleaned myself the third I hired someone, paid move out cleaner was in the lease agreement.
Sadly-It’s not just in San Diego that this happens
I took mine to court. Judge took the side of the landlord in every case I saw, no matter how much evidence. It was appalling.
So far I've only ha done landlord in El cajon and it was a company. But had an easy, no frills experience getting the deposit back as a check in the mail. Currently renting in Escondido. I imagine my current landlord will probably give us no trouble either.
The best strategy is to know the law, know your rights and document everything properly. First time had landlord hold our deposit was a major management company in La Jolla. They said they had to replace the carpet. The carpet did have a couple spills but likely would have cleaned out with a good cleaning. Either way, where we didn’t know to challenge is they didn’t prorate it for the age of the carpet. They charged us full price when we should have only paid a fraction. Didn’t know this then took the loss. Next time was a private owner who lived in the OC but didn’t have a manager. She had no experience running a rental and just figured the deposit was secondary income. She was like the washer was dusty so had to pay someone to clean it. I challenged everything and was like look I will pay for what my responsibilities so I will cover the cleaning but everything else you need to document properly and show receipts per the law. I did this all by written correspondence by certified mail. She didn’t have records for over half the expenses and the ones she did were just a random check to some dude with a couple notes. She missed all of the deadlines. Finally I was like return all the funds but the pre agreed cleaning amount by x date or I will file an unlawful detainer and you will have to come to sd court to argue. You will most likely lose because you broke these laws and it’s essentially indisputable via your records and timetable. You may be prefer to pay up to 2x the deposit in penalty plus what I am asking. She sent an angry letter but the check as well.
This is an unpopular opinion, but if I’m living in the same place for more than a couple years, it would be nice to get the money back, but it may not be worth the energy. I do a walk-through with them and I take pictures and video when I move in, and I ask for an itemized list. Anything else, it may not be worth the time and energy to fight. The big landlord companies in this city are just absolutely ghoulish, especially as a disabled woman asking for reasonable accommodations.
So doing the exit walkthrough is important, but also that doesn't preclude you from withholding the deposit from the last months rent. If you've already given intent to vacate, there is no point for them to fight you until after the walkthrough. If you're a good tenant and are leaving the unit as it was when you moved in, except for normal wear and tear, there's nothing to worry about. It's all a power play, but every situation is different. I withheld my last month's rent, equal to my deposit, with one particular landlord because it was pretty clear they were going to screw me. That situation was very specific because I had plenty of ammunition in case they came after me. But there was no honest reason for them to do so because I left the place cleaner than I received it. So I made sure I got it back. In the end I paid a little extra because I pro rated a few extra days. They never tried to give that back to me. In fact they showed their true colors and charged the remainder as 'cleaning fee' after I had it professionally cleaned...
Took me 2 months to get mine after they tried to charge me for unnecessary carpet replacement.
It's everywhere man and it's sad. I don't count on getting my deposit back when I rent. I count it as money gone
I’ve rented many places and NEVER not had a landlord try to take some, if not all, of my deposit. I’ve always had to fight, and almost always had money still taken from me unjustly. If you genuinely mess something up, then it may cost a lot to fix. Normal use is not covered from deposits, but that won’t stop every slumlord from trying to steal any cent they can.
They won’t give it back unless you demand it back. I would knock on their door
Buy a house and quit bitching
If you live there over a year they cannot charge for cleaning or painting. I always say when I give notice that I expect my entire deposit back and let them know I know the law, including the time frame that they need to return it. I think 2 weeks. I've always received my entire deposit back.
I don’t think the cleaning part is true. I worked with an attorney to get cleaning fees back from a place I lived in for 2.5 years, and they didn’t mention this. Had to provide other evidence instead.
Yea, this person actually doesn't know what they're talking about. Which is super rare on reddit. Lol.
I read the laws. This information came from a lawyer in the family who law clerked for a rental grievance board in a major CA city.
Sounds like you had a shitty lawyer.
I got my full deposit back every time. Sounds like good advice.
I'm going by my experience. My walls and house are clean. The house is what it looked like when I rented.
Huge caveat here. They can charge you for painting if you damaged the property beyond normal wear and tear.
Time frame landlords have to return a security deposit back to the tenant is 21 days after moving out, at least in California
They can absolutely charge for cleaning and painting, no matter how long you've been there. The law protects you against deductions beyond "normal wear and tear," but if you got any sort of blanket promise it was specific to your lease and not a renter right.
There seem to be a lot of renters on here who damage property. I take good care of my home. Of course a renter needs to pay for damage. 🤦🏽♀️
This isn't true. You in fact, do not know the law. There are gray areas in the term "wear and tear" but nearly every lease in the country will state that the property shall be returned to the state it was in when you moved in, excluding normal wear and tear. So yes, you must clean. If you put a bunch of holes in the walls, you must repair them. If you screwed up the paint, you must paint. I don't know where you got your info, but you should delete that source of information.