Law Specific on Security Deposit Deductions
QUESTION: I am an apartment manager in Long Beach. I was always told that as long as a tenant left an apartment with no damage and broom swept, there were to be no charges against, or money taken from, the security deposit.
Now, I am hearing from a lot of people that their landlords are charging them for cleaning carpets, drapes and general apartment cleaning. They say that whatever the cleaning company charges the landlord, is what the landlord charges them for cleaning. Is this legal?
ANSWER: In California, money may be deducted from security deposits for any of three different purposes. They include paying for cleaning a unit, to repair damages to a unit above and beyond “normal wear and tear,” and to compensate for unpaid rent.
This “broom swept” concept has nothing to do with California law, or the manner in which most courts interpret it. Forget about it.
As for carpets and drapes, many small claims courts, where security deposit disputes are usually settled, say that three years constitutes “normal wear and tear” for them. Thus, they reason, no money can logically be spent from a tenant’s security deposit for cleaning after a tenancy of at least three years.
City Water Law May Help Get Drip Fixed
Q: I live in Los Angeles. For some time now, there has been a dripping sound coming from somewhere underneath my apartment unit. During the day it isn’t so bad, but at night it is quite evident that something is wrong with the plumbing.
A plumber was here in March and he was unable to find anything wrong. After I sent him a letter in April, the landlord came to look into the problem. He turned off the hot water circulation pump to see if that was the source of the problem. It was not.
He then theorized that maybe the pipes were expanding and contracting with changes in temperature. He also said he’d have another plumber find and fix whatever is causing the noise. The drip continues.
I have lived here for four years and like the apartment very much. I also like the landlord. He is usually very prompt in making necessary repairs, so I cannot understand why he continues to ignore this one. Please let me know my options for having this very disturbing sound eliminated.
Also, after four years the walls of my apartment are becoming quite dingy. There are cracks in the plaster and some crumbling plaster under the windows where the rain has seeped through.
Who is responsible for this interior maintenance (plaster and crack repair, and repainting)?
A: It sounds like the owner has made some efforts to repair the leak, but since it has persisted for so long, it seems as if he is ignoring the problem. Fear not, for Mayor Tom Bradley’s new mandatory water rationing plan will provide your owner with added motivation, monetary penalties for excess water usage, to repair the leak, if that’s the problem.
While the California Civil Code requires your landlord to maintain your apartment in a safe and habitable condition, I’m not sure that it requires him to fix outside leaks or noises that sound like them. (Is there any evidence of a leak on the ground or in a lower apartment?)
If all else fails, you may be able to get some kind of a rent reduction for a “reduction in services,” further motivation to the owner to fix the problem, from the Los Angeles Rent Stabilization Division (RSD), assuming that your unit is covered by rent control.
Now, to your second question, replastering and repainting. While replastering, fixing the cracked and crumbling plaster, is a health and safety issue, for which the owner is responsible, repainting isn’t. It is an aesthetic issue for which you are responsible.
Unmarried Tenants Protected by Laws
Q: I live in a three-bedroom, first-floor duplex on Balboa Island with one male roommate and one female roommate. Our yearly lease is up on Sept. 1.
The agent for the owner has indicated to us that she will not rerent the apartment to a co-ed situation (unmarried male and female). The realtor says these new rental rules were made by the owner. Is this legal? What are our rights, if any?
A: Refusing to renew your lease because of your marital status is not legal in California under our state’s fair housing laws, the Rumford and Unruh acts. You should make the realtor and owner aware of this. If they still refuse to renew the lease, you can sue them for discrimination based upon marital status.
New Owner May Not Discount on Rent
Q: We moved into our Burbank apartment on May 15, 1988. We got our first rent increase in March, 1990. The rent was increased from $650 to $725. However, the owner also gave us a 10% “discount” provided that we pay the rent by the fifth of the month, which made our rent $652.50.
We thought that this was too good to be true, and we were right. On May 1 he advised us that in June our rent would be increased to $790. Again, though, he gave us a 10% discount for paying by the fifth, which made our rent $711.
The owner is in the process of selling the building and indicates that the prospective owner requested that he raise the rent. Our concern is that the new owner will remove the discount and thereby increase our rent to $790.
Since Burbank does not have a rent control law, we are wondering if we have any recourse if this should happen.
A: Not really. The new owner could eliminate the 10% rent discount for prompt payment of rent, which is legal, with a 30-day Notice of Change of Terms of Tenancy. If he does so, you will either have to pay the increase or move.
