Deposit Paid for Ex-Friend May Be Lost
Question: A former friend of mine tried to rent an apartment in West Hollywood last year. Because he had bad credit, he couldn’t get the apartment. I then submitted my credit application. It was approved, and I subsequently gave the management company my check in the amount of $1,800 for two months’ security deposit and the balance of a prorated month’s rent.
Unfortunately, the ex-friend and I are no longer in contact. Apparently, he is still living in the apartment. Even though I never signed the lease and severed my relationship to the apartment in writing (60-day notice), the management company refuses to refund the $1,650 security deposit I gave them.
I believe that they should refund my deposit money and look to the current apartment occupant (my former friend) for the security deposit. Is there anything that I can do?
Answer: Since security deposits go with tenancies, as opposed to tenants, the management company does not have to refund the deposit until the tenancy ends.
At that point, they must within 21 days refund any security deposits (less unpaid rent, cleaning or damages). There is nothing you can do to get them to refund the deposit now.
Deposit refunds are generally made payable to the tenants of record. However, there can be exceptions. Even though you may not have signed the lease, you must have signed something, like a rental application, authorizing the management company to run your credit report and determine that you have good credit.
At about the same time, you also should have signed something making you the guarantor of rent. Otherwise, your credit rating wouldn’t make much of a difference. Check that paperwork to find out if it in any way addresses the security deposit issue.
If you have nothing in writing about the security deposit with the management company or your former friend, other than your canceled check, you may have trouble getting any part of the deposit back, even at end of the tenancy.
If you made an oral agreement about the deposit with your former friend (which does not appear to be the case), you may sue him now in Small Claims Court for its return, depending upon the terms of the agreement.
Landlord Entered Without Permission
Q: I live in North Hollywood and I have a problem. I came home one night at 6:15 and found a notice on the door stating that insurance inspections of the unit would begin the next day at 10 a.m.
I phoned the manager and told her that I did not consider this to be reasonable notice and left a note on my door that permission to enter the unit was denied. They entered anyway.
Before I make a big stink about this, I would like to know what my rights are. What is considered “reasonable notice” for a landlord’s nonemergency entry into an apartment unit? Also, if the tenant denies entry after the notice, can the landlord enter anyway?
A: Generally, 24 hours is presumed to be reasonable notice of a landlord’s intent to enter an apartment in a nonemergency situation. However, state law does not specify 24 hours; it only says that you must be given “reasonable” notice.
If you were away from the apartment and the manager put the notice on your door at 10 a.m. on the day you found it, which is probably the case, you are considered to have gotten your “reasonable” 24 hours notice.
Landlord Can’t Keep the Entire Deposit
Q: I moved into a one-bedroom apartment about six months ago. The rent is $750. While I was being considered for the apartment, I gave the manager a check for $750 as a deposit. I was told that I would get a receipt with the lease.
When I got the lease and receipt, the manager changed it from “Standard Month-to-Month Rental Agreement” to “6-Month Lease then: Standard Month-To-Month Rental Agreement.” I was surprised. I expected a year lease, not one for six months.
He also wrote, “Nonrefundable Deposit” on the receipt. Is that legal? I thought that if I was offered the apartment and didn’t take it, the management was entitled to the deposit. Since I have taken it, shouldn’t it be returned to me (minus charges for damages and cleaning) after I move out? Also, the six months are up. When can the manager raise my rent and what percentage?
A: Whether the manager intended the $750 deposit as a deposit to hold the apartment while he checked your credit or as a security deposit, he cannot make it “nonrefundable.”
If you did not take the apartment after he held it for you, the manager could keep deposit money to pay for things like re-advertising it or for unpaid rent until he re-rented it. He conceivably could keep the entire $750, but only if his expenses justified keeping it, $750 or more.
Under no circumstances is it automatically “nonrefundable,” as he has written on the deposit receipt.
Since you took the apartment, the deposit money must be returned to you or used as a security deposit. If it is used as security deposit, as you say in your letter, the manager may deduct expenses from it including unpaid rent, damages and cleaning.
As for your other question, when and by how much can he raise the rent, that depends upon whether your apartment unit is rent-controlled. If it is not, he can raise the rent to the market level with a 30-day notice.
If you apartment unit is rent-controlled, the rent cannot be raised until you have lived in the unit for at least 12 months. The exact timing and amount of rent increases depend on where you live.
For instance, you can raise rent by 3% under Los Angeles city rent control, while annual rent increases in Santa Monica are limited to 1%.
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Postema is the editor of Apartment Age magazine, a publication of AAGLA, an apartment owners’ service group, and manager of public affairs for the California Apartment Law Information Foundation, which disseminates information about landlord-tenant law to renters and owners in California. Mail your questions on any aspect of apartment living to AAGLA, 12012 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90025.
