Defining When Cleaning Fees Can Be Charged

QUESTION: I own an apartment building in West Los Angeles, and your June 24 column puzzled me. In your answer to the question titled “Conversion Surprises New Tenant” you said, “Your security deposit, like all residential rental security deposits, is refundable, less expenses for cleaning, damages or unpaid rent.”

I understand about retaining a portion of a deposit for damage or unpaid rent, but I have always been told that I cannot retain any portion of a deposit for cleaning fees, so I don’t. Sometimes, these fees can run up to $200. We just absorb it as a part of doing business.

Please clarify this for me. In some cases, tenants leave the apartment in an OK condition. Sometimes, it’s really quite nice, but it still needs our cleaning peoples’ expert touch. Occasionally, there is total devastation. Please tell me what to do in all three cases.

ANSWER: Don’t feel alone if you don’t fully understand security deposits and the art of refunding them. This probably represents the most misunderstood aspect of landlord/tenant law.

You cannot, ever, under any circumstances, charge renters “non-refundable” cleaning fees, which may be what you’ve “always been told.” If the unit is clean when the tenants move in, then you can charge them the actual cost of restoring the unit to that same level of cleanliness when they move out if they leave the unit dirty.

If the tenants leave the unit as clean when they move out as it was when they moved in, then you cannot charge them anything for cleaning.

If the tenants leave the unit in a state of “total devastation,” and their security deposit doesn’t cover the damage, you can sue them for up to $2,000 in small claims court. For damages between $2,000 and $25,000, you can sue in municipal court.

Are Late Charges on Rent Payment Legal?

Q: I live in Panorama City. My question is about the late fees I am being charged for paying my rent after the fifth of the month. The rent is $665 and the late fee is 10%, or $65. Is this legal? Also, we just got a 30-day notice of a $25 rent increase, plus the late fee will be charged after the first of the month, no grace period. Is this legal?

My next question concerns occupancy limits in apartments. There are six people currently living in our unit, myself, my wife and our four children, ranging in age from 2 to 15 years.

We want to move, but we can’t afford a three-bedroom apartment, and no one will rent us a two-bedroom apartment due to the size of our family. Is it legal for apartment owners to refuse to rent to large families?

A: There is nothing illegal about a “late fee” provision in a rental agreement. The amount of the late fee must be reasonable in amount and reasonably related to the damages the landlord expects to sustain if payments are made late. Such damages could include late charges to the landlord on his mortgage or utility bills, book work, default notice preparation, etc.

If the amount of a late fee is patently unreasonable, it is uncollectible as a penalty. Many government agencies charge late fees, some 10%, some more, so it is probably not patently unreasonable.

And while many landlords allow grace periods for paying rents late, usually ranging from three to five days, they are not mandated by law to do so. A landlord can eliminate a grace period with a 30-day notice.

Your question about occupancy standards, is harder to answer definitely. Department of Fair Employment and Housing officials call for 10 or more people in two-bedroom apartments, in line with state occupancy limits. At the same time, apartment owners, who used to able to restrict occupancy to as little as one person per unit, wonder what the standard is.

There is none. However, many feel that a two-per-bedroom-plus-one-per-apartment standard, for example, five persons in a two-bedroom apartment, will pass legal muster. The issue of any occupancy standard is: Is it disguised discrimination against children? If so, it is illegal.

Landlord Deals Drugs; Police Will Not Act

Q: I live in Los Angeles, and I have read a couple of items in Apartment Life about drug-using and drug-dealing tenants. Now, the shoe is on the other foot.

How would you deal with a landlord who is moving between 100 to 200 kilograms of cocaine and/or heroin out of just one location? He also owns six other apartment buildings.

My city councilman arranged a meeting with the police. The interviewing sergeant’s comment was, “So, what else is new?” The interview was over at this moment. Now, I still don’t know what to do. I don’t like the traffic day and night, let alone the guns.

Don’t suggest that I move. There is nothing I would rather do. Unfortunately, my Social Security and a small pension will not allow me such an extravagance. I have lived in my rent-controlled apartment for almost 15 years and absolutely can’t afford to move.

This landlord is also an illegal immigrant. He applied for amnesty last year. Have you got any ideas?

A: If a Los Angeles police sergeant made the comment that you allege he made about a 220- to 440-pound (per week/month) drug dealer, “So, what else is new?” you should report him to his captain. Also, if the LAPD isn’t interested in your gun-toting, drug-dealing landlord, perhaps the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is. You can reach the DEA at (213) 252-7582.

If your landlord is an illegal immigrant, you could, of course, also report him to the INS.