In CA, If you pay $600 Apartment security deposit on 18 Feb for a 23 Mar move in and had to cancel on 4 March is the landlord entitled to keep the $600?

To note:
1) on the 4th, I requested to change my move in to 7, 8, or 9 March due to a travel requirement overseas
2) It was found that the current tenant of the apartment was allowed to extended their move out from 1 March till 14 March.
3) Per the landlord the apartment would not be available till around the 17th.
4) The deposit agreement states that I would be subject to rental loss (the landlord is now defining that as a daily fee of $58.33 and exhausted before 4 Mar).

Thanks

CA housing laws are a little finicky compared to many other states so you should check the code, especially if you are in LA. In most states you are in default of your lease and are responsible for any lost rent until the unit is re-rented including any advertising expenses. That could be even more than your security deposit. His definition appears to be almost triple the correct rate of about $20 per day (20 x 30 = 600) if your rent was equal to one months rent. If you "cancel on 4 March" your security would be gone by April 4th if it hasn't rented and he can keep charging you more until it is rented. He must make a sincere and legitimate effort to rent.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ballengerb1

CA housing laws are a little finicky compared to many other states so you should check the code, especially if you are in LA. In most states you are in default of your lease and are responsible for any lost rent until the unit is re-rented including any advertising expenses. That could be even more than your security deposit. His definition appears to be almost triple the correct rate of about $20 per day (20 x 30 = 600) if your rent was equal to one months rent. If you "cancel on 4 March" your security would be gone by April 4th if it hasn't rented and he can keep charging you more until it is rented. He must make a sincere and legitimate effort to rent.

---

When I was leaving California at the end of last year, it was quite common for the security deposit to be less than a month's rent. You get that when the market softens and rent is running in the 1200-1600/month range. So the price the landlord is giving for the per day rent could be right.