Hello I'm a landlord in California. We've had our renters in our property for 3 years this July 2009 and up until know we’ve have had a good relationship. Paid on time most of the time, we repaired anything that needed to be fixed.

When they signed their lease three years ago 2006 the agreed and signed our non- returnable pet deposit($300) with a clear understanding that we were allowing their two large golden retrievers and would be keeping the money to complete repairs upon them leaving.

The dogs were trained well enough to do their "business" on one side of the yard. But never the less we are going to have to have new grass put in. It totally smells like urine back there.

So here is where it gets interesting. They have informed us they are not paying to Junes rent. We are to take it out of their $1500 dollar deposit they gave and the $300 dog deposit (total deposit is $1800) (rent is $1925) They continued to state they are going to move out on 6/28 a couple of days earlier then their 7/1 notice. They stated there was no damage done to the house and know they will not be responsible for any type of repairs.

What should my next step be? Regards a in Cali

Our loss is $125 in rent
Plus anything that we might have had to keep due to damage.

If they walk out as they plan you would have to sue them for your damages. Did the lease state the clause regarding the $300 pet deposit not being refundable? When you stated your losses you failed to include the $300 which I think you are entitled to keep if it was in writing.

That is correct. We clearly wrote it on the contract which they signed. They agreed that the $300 dollar was a non refundable "dog deposit". Can I sue them for the non paid rent as well? They gave us 45 day notice, because in the signed contract (Which they also agreed to) Their notice stated that their last day was 7/1/09.

Here is their response upon me informing them that rent was past late.


“Let me begin by apologizing for not sending this over the past weekend. T and I discussed the contents and l saved it as a draft and forgot to come back and “send”.



We paid a security deposit totaling $1,800.00 ($1,500.00 + $300.00 “non-refundable” deposit) which we are going to apply to the June rent. In California there is no such thing as a “non-refundable” deposit no matter what it’s called. All money paid in addition to the first months rent is refundable. Since non-refundable deposits are illegal this portion of the lease isn’t valid and cannot be withheld as long as there are no damages, which there are none.



We plan on vacating the premises by Sunday 6/28 which will allow perspective tenants the convenience of moving in a couple days early and avoiding the first of the month moving rush. By taking the monthly rent of $1,925.00 and dividing it by 30 days we arrive at $64.17 per day. $64.17 x 28 days equals $1,796.67 which is very close to the $1,800.00.



We have been excellent stewards of the property and will continue to do so until we move. We would like to schedule a walk through to go over our previous punch list, which was completed

upon moving in. We will make sure the property is returned in the same condition as it was when we moved in, less any normal wear and tear.



T and I had bad experience in the past with a landlord who wrongly withheld the security deposit and since then we have always applied the deposit toward the last month’s rent. None of our landlords ever had a problem with our doing that because we always gave ample notice (as we did with you) for them to secure a new tenant and deposit from that new tenant.





Regards,



T and C

They talk a good talk but its hot air. They can not leave afew days early and think they can prorate their rent, that is not negotiable. You determine the damages not them. I think they are quoting a site called RentLaw when they say "In California, there is no such thing as a “non-refundable” security deposit. No matter what it's called—a key deposit, cleaning fee, move-in fee, closing costs, last month's rent, etc.—all money you pay in addition to your first month's rent is refundable. Since “nonrefundable” deposits are illegal, don't worry if your rental agreement includes a section about a “nonrefundable” deposit. This section will not be valid even if you have signed the rental contract or agreed to it." However, it does appear on many other sites that Ca does not allow for nonrefundable security deposits. If you ever rent again to a per owner just up their rent by $10 or $15 per month in the lease.

Under CA Civil Code Section 1950.5
(m) No lease or rental agreement may contain any provision
characterizing any security as "nonrefundable."

You can look this up at
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/calawquery?codesection=civ&codebody=Civil+Code+Sec tion+1950.5&hits=20

Under California law, a lease or rental
agreement cannot say that a security deposit is
“nonrefundable.�77 This means that when the
tenancy ends, the landlord must return to you any
payment that is a security deposit, unless the
landlord properly uses the deposit for a lawful
purpose, as described on pages 25 and 50–60.
Almost all landlords charge tenants a security
deposit. The security deposit may be called “last
month's rent,� “security deposit,� “pet deposit,�“key fee,� or “cleaning fee.� The security deposit
may be a combination, for example, of the last
month's rent plus a specific amount for security.
No matter what these payments or fees are
called, the law considers them all, as well as any
other deposit or charge, to be part of the security
deposit.78 The one exception to this rule is
stated in the next paragraph.
The law allows the landlord to require a tenant
to pay an application screening fee, in addition
to the security deposit (see page 9–10).79 The
application screening fee is not part of the
security deposit. However, any other fee charged
by the landlord at the beginning of the tenancy
to cover the landlord's costs of processing a new
tenant is part of the security deposit.