Rent Credit for Overpayment Unlikely
QUESTION: We moved into a house in Van Nuys in April 1997. The property was owned by an elderly woman but one of her sons showed us the property. We signed the lease with him. In addition to the $900 monthly rent, he charged us $50 a month for “gardening.”
The gardeners never did a thing for us except blowing the leaves out of the driveway into the bushes, which I then had to pay someone to clean out. I complained a few months after moving in and asked not to be charged for the gardening.
On top of this, we were never allowed access to our garage. He said it was full of his stuff and that he eventually would move it so that we could use it, which he never did. Also, two of his sons’ disabled vehicles were parked in our driveway, making it hard to get to the house through the back door.
I also asked for a reduction in rent for that inconvenience.
We did not push these things as we had been evicted from our previous Burbank residence in a similar situation, elderly owner with greedy kids.
The owner died recently and the property is up for sale. Before we get a new owner, I’m wondering whether I am entitled to any legal credit for the 16 months of overpayments I made for the gardening I didn’t get, for the nonuse of the garage or for the inconvenience of the parked cars.
ANSWER: Probably not, but only a judge knows for sure. You say that the gardener blew the leaves from the driveway into the bushes and that you subsequently paid someone to remove them. Although I personally have had some incompetent gardeners, I find that difficult to believe, as I suspect a judge would.
Similarly, it seems that if the sons’ disabled vehicles have been parked in the driveway for the 16 months you have lived there, they probably were there when you looked at the house and when you moved into it, meaning that you knew about them all along.
In another lane, your garage claim appears, on its face, to be equally invalid. If the sons’ disabled vehicles were blocking the driveway, making it difficult even to enter the house, it probably would have nearly impossible to get anything into, or use, the garage, and you would have known it.
Finally, you say you were on a one-year lease that expired last April. You could have renegotiated your lease at that time, if the owner was willing, or moved out. You did neither. Instead, you stayed there either signing a new lease or holding over as a month-to-month tenant.
The fact that the owner of the property has recently died does not affect your situation, as you seem to think it does, since you were shown the property and signed the lease with her son.
Tenant Wants Out Over Pest Problem
Q: I moved into an apartment complex and had to sign a six-month lease. There is a $1,000 fee if that lease is broken. Soon after I moved in, I noticed far too many spiders and ants for the apartment to be acceptable.
I notified management of the problem and they said they would spray whenever I needed it. Well, I have to call them about once every two weeks to spray inside my apartment and caulk the holes that allow the ants in. They have a professional service that sprays the outside of the buildings weekly.
Working at home, I notice that I get headaches and allergic reactions and my breathing is bothered when I sit near windows or on the floor to watch TV. I have a strong suspicion that it’s all due to the spraying.
I want to move out as soon as possible since I do not find these livable and workable conditions. What are my rights? The management made me very aware of all the “legal” warnings it had to provide tenants for lead, asbestos, etc. Does failure to tell me about the bug problem affect them?
A: There are some legally required warnings of potential hazards that landlords must give you before renting to you. Lead and asbestos are good examples. For others, like pest problems, you should pester them before moving in.
If you had asked about pest problems prior to moving into the apartment, and they knew about them and kept that information from you, you would have a great claim. That doesn’t sound like the case.
The good news for you is that it sounds as if they have given you in writing the amount of liquidated damages that they are seeking from you for breaking your rental contract (money they will charge you for breaking the lease). According to your letter, that is $1,000.
That means that even if you have lived these for only one month, the maximum damages they can charge you for an early move-out is $1,000. If you leave without such a liquidated damages clause, you can be liable for rent for the full term of the lease.
It also probably means that if they re-rent the apartment the day after you move out that they can keep the $1,000 fee and it is not considered “double rent” (rent collected from two tenants or sets of tenants for the same unit at the same time), which, without a valid liquidated damages clause, is prohibited under California law.
Postema is the editor of Apartment Age magazine, a publication of AAGLA, an apartment owners’ service group. Mail your questions to AAGLA, 12012 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90025.
