I live in San Diego CA and signed a one year lease with an apartment complex that's owned/operated by a pretty big property management company (ConAm Properties). Today I went to give my notice that I'd be vacating at the end of my lease (Jan 31st). My lease requires 30 days and by going to them today I gave more than 30 days. The lease asks for notice to be submitted in writing, so I stopped by the leasing office to check, specifically, if there was any particular information I should include in my notice that would be helpful for them (like a forwarding address, etc.)

At that point they put a two page "30 day notice" agreement in front of me and tell me that I must sign this agreement, and that they will ONLY accept THAT signed agreement as proper notice. They then refer to my lease and see that my (now) ex-wife is on the lease and they tell me she also needs to sign this. Not worried too much about it, I say okay, but that I'll need to take the agreement with me and get my ex's signature, and then I'll bring it back the next day. This is when they explain that it's their "policy" that the agreements aren't allowed to leave the leasing office, and that I must sign it there and that they're required to witness me signing it. But, because my ex no longer lives there with me, they'll waive the policy requiring her to sign it... as long as I sign it there/with them watching/without the ability to take it with me and, I don't know, have an attorney review it?

This immediately sparked red flags for me. I kindly explained that I deal with contracts regularly and often and that there's no reasonable basis for their policies. They don't need to see me sign anything and it seems unreasonable that I'm not allowed to take this with me for review/to have a third party sign as well. I refused to sign it and walked out.

So here are my questions...

1. Am I legally required to do anything more than personally serve written notice that I will be vacating at the end of my lease term?

2. My lease specifies 30 days notice. I am giving more than 30 days notice, and will happily (still) pay my rent through to the full term of the lease. I don't see any possible way that they can compel me to sign an additional agreement, and otherwise reject reasonable written notice. Am I wrong?

3. Don't I have a legal right to retain and review any agreement they present prior to signing it?

This seems to be the case with most all rental properties I've encountered that are owned by big property management companies. They will NEVER let you see the lease agreement until after you've paid your deposit, are ready to move in, etc. at which point you're screwed if you don't sign. This seems like a similar scam, in that they're trying to leverage my vacancy against another agreement, but it's the first time I've ever had a landlord try and pull something like this.

I'm pretty sure the answer to these questions is that, NO, I'm not required to sign this agreement, normal written notice will do (which I will have my ex sign as well), I've given them more than adequate notice, and now I get to simply hope they don't do something retalitory and I never have to see them in court.

Just make sure you take pictures of every room, and the carpets, before you go so you can prove no damage in case they give you a hassle about your security deposit.

Tick

Hello the:

If your original lease says that you will be required to sign THEIR notice forms, then you must. Otherwise, you have no obligation to do so.

But, be on guard. Take pictures. Document EVERYTHING.

excon

Agreed, there is no legal requirement that you use their form unless its in the lease. And there is no way that you cannot take a copy of the document for your review before signing.

Prepare a letter as follows:

To Whom It May Concern,

Please accept this as notice that I will not be renewing my lease for <insert address and description of apartment>. I will therefore be vacating the unit on 1/31/2011.

Please contact me to schedule a walk through on that date to review the condition of the apartment.

For your information my forwarding address is:
<insert new address if known>.

Thank you for your consideration in this matter.

Have your signatures notarized so they cannot claim its not valid because the signatures were not witnessed. This should be legally sufficient. Deliver it and have them sign a receipt for it or send it by Return Receipt Requested mail and keep a copy. If they refuse to sign the receipt, get the person's name and make a not on the receipt that they refused to sign. If they insist on you completing their form, tell them you would be happy to once its been reviewed by your attorney. So please give me a copy top take to my attorney. If they refuse tell them they have no legal grounds to make such a demand.

Make sure you document everything and have a checklist ready for the walkthru. It might be a good idea to have someone along to videotape the walkthru.

There is no mention of the form/agreement in the lease. There is also no mention of the form/agreement in their reminder (which they put under my door) to provide notice within 30 days.

I've prepared a 2-page notice. It states my intent to vacate, it notes the date the letter was personally delivered (as well as emailed and sent Return Receipt Requested), it clearly expresses my desire for an initial inspection (and to be present during the inspection), and leaves a forwarding address. In particular, it also notes for the record this event (i.e. their refusal to acknowledge legally valid notice and their policy tacts in pressuring me to sign a new agreement that is not legally required by the state of California or the existing lease agreement). It also states that the letter will be used as evidence of bad faith and questionable intent if any action in small claims becomes necessary (either for unreasonable mishandling of our vacancy or retaliatory action for declining to sign this new agreement), as well as evidence of our compliance with actual law and the terms of the existing lease agreement.

It just amazes me that these people are so bold in doing something so blatantly unnecessary. Crazy.

If anyone has any other thouhgts I'd love to hear them.

If they can't get you on anything else after this, then they will probably try wittholding security deposit (and I can't stress this enough), document everything, take pictures of every room, as one suggested, videotape the walk through with sound.

Tick

Will do. The videotaping is a good idea and it just so happens my phone records 1080i HD :-)

The security deposit here was paltry. If they keep it that's fine. What I worry more about is fraudulent charging in excess of my deposit, and them somehow trying to damage my credit record as a result (which I guard like a hawk).

The previous apartment complex I rented at did an initial inspection, found that everything was fine, and then when I called to see why they hadn't returned my security deposit after a month, they informed me that they were actually charging me $1456 for a countertop I supposedly burned which they discovered in the final inspection. When I went to argue about this with them and demanded a copy of the inspection checklist, they'd written all over it in red ink and you could see where they'd clearly reversed and edited notations after I signed it. I smiled and asked if they'd like to talk about this in front of a judge. They cut me a check the same day.

Since then I've been paranoid about similar fraud and the management here has suddenly got me pretty spooked...

Be careful, I would not only hand them a copy, but send two copies, one to the local office and one to their corporate office where they are required to sign for it.

Also the minute they would not let their copy leave the office it means they have something in it to trick you, supper red flags.

Even IF your lease said you had to sign their copy, they have to allow you to take a copy for review.

it clearly expresses my desire for an initial inspection (and to be present during the inspection)... The security deposit here was paltry. If they keep it that's fine. What I worry more about is fraudulent charging in excess of my deposit, and them somehow trying to damage my credit record as a result (which I guard like a hawk).Hello again, the:

I would change my desire into a demand.

California law is VERY tenant friendly.. Without looking it up, I recall that your landlord is, within 21 days, required to mail to your last known address, an accounting of how your deposit was used. If ANY of it was used, the accounting must include the receipt of the money they spent, the TIME spent doing it, the hourly rate paid, and finally, a contact name and number of the worker who did the work. IF they fail to meet that deadline, no matter whether there were damages or not, you'll be entitled to triple your deposit back, should you sue them in small claims court.

So, even if the deposit is paltry, I'd guard my nickles (along with my credit) like a hawk too.

excon

Hey excon - thanks for the added note!

Here's what my letter of notice says specifically about the final inspection...

"As provided by law, we are exercising our right to an Initial Inspection of the rental property, and also to be present during the inspection, c.f. Civil Code Section 1950.5(f)(1). We will happily coordinate that with you after the Holidays."

My hope is that they just back down and don't turn this into a circus. They've been great to deal with up until this little surprise.