My landlord gave me a 3 Day Notice to Pay or Quite after I had given him a notice to Vacate by 3/1/10. In the notice I included that my double deposit was to be used for rent. I feel this is very retaliatory as the deposit covers 2 months of rent, which I will be out before the full two months, in 45 to 50 days. This landlord does not return deposits and opted this route for that reason. Question: If he does file a Summons and Complaint and I am out what can he do? It is no longer an eviction and the notice says 3 Day Notice to Pay or Quit. Also, I have a toilet that has been leaking for almost a year. Serious stuff, and they have been notified numerous times. There is a tree out my front door that is ready to fall over into my apartment. A very uncaring Property Manager and Owner. I am reporting them both to the DRE for poor performance. And this is a 26 unit compex without a resident manager. Numerous complaints, too many to mention. Thank you for your response

What kind of lease did you sign? That will determine my next answer.

What kind of lease did you sign? That will determine my next answer.

I signed a year's lease in July 2006 and paid a double deposit of $1990.00. I am 66 years old and have a problem with the management and owner of this complex since the onset of the lease.

You can not merely give notice to move if you have a lease, in fact they could hold you to the lease, till they re-rent the apartment.

A deposit is not "last months" rent unless the lease specificly said it was, You owe rent till and though at least the last month, but in reality will owe for the entrie lease or until someone else rents it.

So yes unless you pay the rent, they may evict you for non payment.

The deposit is just that, so you will have to sue them if they fail to legally return any depoist due.

you can not merely give notice to move if you have a lease, in fact they could hold you to the lease, till they re-rent the apartment.

A deposit is not "last months" rent unless the lease specificly said it was, You owe rent till and though at least the last month, but in reality will owe for the entrie lease or untill someone else rents it.

So yes unless you pay the rent, they may evict you for non payment.

The deposit is just that, so you will have to sue them if they fail to legally return any depoist due.

Even if I move before my notice expires? I realize the deposit is not rent.. . However, this landlord habitually does not return deposits and I know about the suit, etc. My question to you is, once I move.. . The apartment is turned over to them where does the eviction end? Can they still sue me for the rent? That does not make sense.. . They have the Rent in the form of a Deposit. That makes no sense at all. Please Respond.. .

Deposits have nothing to do with the monthly rental fee. Yes, I know it's hard to fathom but that's reality. And yes, they can and probably will hold you to the rest of the lease making you pay for an empty apartment. If they do the eviction suit against you they probably will want the rest of the rental fees until your lease expires.

You will just have to take them to court for the return of your double deposit after your lease has expired provided that you paid the monthly rental fee in full until the end of the lease period or the landlord can and will keep your double deposit.

I signed a year's lease in July 2006 and paid a double deposit of $1990.00. I am 66 years old and have a problem with the management and owner of this complex since the onset of the lease.

I do not have a lease, I had a one year lease until July 2007 at that time it went month to month.

What kind of lease did you sign? That will determine my next answer.

A year's lease.

How the deposit is used is NOT up to you. You can't tell the landlord to apply the deposit towards unpaid rent. Therefore if you do not want to find yourself evicted before 3/1. You need to pay up.

When you vacate you need to have a walk through done with the landlord and an impartial witness. You can download a checklist from the web and either have the landlord or the witness sign it. Take a video showing the day's paper to show it's accuracy.

Then, if the landlord does not return your deposit you can take him to court.

Ok, it is not a lease then, ( unless the lease automatically renewed) but if you are on a month to month basis then you will only owe the rent though the end of the month that you gave your notice,

Ok, it is not a lease then, ( unless the lease automaticly renewed) but if you are on a month to month basis then you will only owe the rent though the end of the month that you gave your notice,

#1 - I gave notice to be out on a month-to-month on March 1, 2010 personally served on January 21, 2010; I was given a 3-day notice on February 2, 2010. I specifically said they could take my two month deposit in rent. I don't see a problem here. My question is if I am out by the end of the month and they have filed a Summons & Complaint where do I stand? Simple questions, need a simple answer.. . I have vacated their premises, it is no longer an eviction.. . I AM OUT.. . thank you

You have to be out before they take you to court, with a 3 day pay or quit, at the end of three days they go file in court for eviction. And the eviction notice will be given out and you could well be in court getting evicted before 3/1.

If you have already moved NOW, not waiting till 3/1 to be out, and it is empty before the 3 day notice expires then they will not evict.

And it is not a simple question, since you are not giving a full example of what is happening,


Are you already out, or do you think you are going to stay till 3/1?

I will be out by the end of my notice, which is 3/1/10. If they file a Summons & Complaint, I will be out of this complex before MY notice expires. I will be out before 3/1/10!

Once they file in court, it is filed and normally they will go though with the action, even if you move out, since they have already paid the filing fee.

Some may drop the case, but normally with a 3 day notice, on day 4 they are filing, and you can expect to be served within a week of that

Okay.. . These are stupid people, they take peoples money without giving it a second thought. They are wrong.. . If they go the full route I will be right there with them. I know I am right.
Please advise

Remember, I gave them a notice prior to their 3-day.. . This is retaliation. This is unreasonable and foolish.. .

#1 - I gave notice to be out on a month-to-month on March 1, 2010 personally served on January 21, 2010; I was given a 3-day notice on February 2, 2010. I specifically said they could take my two month deposit in rent. I don't see a problem here. My question is if I am out by the end of the month and they have filed a Summons & Complaint where do I stand? Simple questions, need a simple answer . . . I have vacated their premises, it is no longer an eviction . . . I AM OUT . . .thank you

Did you read my response? While it may be retaliation it may not. The fact is that YOU can't tell them to take your deposit. Now if the lease specified that you pay first and last months rent as a deposit, that would be different. But, if what you paid was a security deposit then you have no legal right to tell them ow to use it. They should have told you that when you gave notice. But if rent was due on 2/1 then on 2/2 they were legally entitled to give you a Pay or Quit. Since I assume you haven't paid, then the notice expired. Monday morning they will be in housing court applying for an eviction order. Now, the key here is going to be how crowded the court calendar is. Then may be able to get a hearing scheduled quickly. If they do, you will be notified of a hearing date. At the hearing if you still haven't paid, then WILL get an eviction order. So you could very well find yourself facing eviction in as little as 2 weeks.

Like I said, pay for February, then sue oif they don't pay your deposit back.

Thanks Scott, ( where have you been) They can't seem to understand housing law,

The laws don't have to make sense, it is just the way the law is written.

If Mondy you are not out, they may well go though with the eviction even if you move out when you are served, to get a court order to back up their claim to the rent money.