Put Your Agreement in Writing
Question: I have always been rather casual about renting the back unit of my duplex and never bothered to use a written rental agreement. Is this legal? Must all rental agreements be in writing?
Attorney Ted Smith replies:
No. Month-to-month rental agreements and leases of less than one year may be oral or written.
With an oral agreement, nothing is written down. The landlord and tenant talk things over and come to an understanding. Some owners (like you) prefer oral agreements because they have fewer rules than other agreements. On the other hand, the owner and tenant might remember things differently later, so it is better to put the agreement in writing.
Property manager Griswold replies:
As a property manager, I must adamantly caution both owners and renters against oral rental agreements, even if the owner and renter know each other very well or are related.
A rental agreement or lease is a complicated transaction with important rights and responsibilities for both parties.
Attorneys (like Smith and Steve Kellman) spend a lot of time in court discussing and debating the rights of their respective clients even with a written document. Can you imagine the time and expense of a legal action when the terms of the agreement are strictly based on what the landlord and tenant remember and mutually agree upon?
So while it may be legal to have an oral month-to-month rental agreement or to lease for less than one year, I would always advise a renter or landlord to only use a written agreement. Unless you like to live dangerously, put it in writing.
Tenant Has Duty to Let Owner Know of Leak
Q: Recently my tenant moved out of my rental home after more than four years. In addition to not moving on time and leaving the home filthy, I found water damage behind the toilet, which has caused damage to both the floor (warped wood) and the wall (destroyed drywall). I am concerned that there may be significant structural damage to the home. This damage did not happen overnight, and I would have taken care of it immediately if I had been notified. Can I hold the former tenant legally responsible for some or all of the cost of these repairs?
Attorney Steven R. Kellman replies:
The tenant is responsible for acting reasonably in the care of rental property. The law imposes a duty on the part of the tenant to be somewhat aware of the conditions in the rental. This does not imply that the tenant must make regular inspections of the plumbing system, scouting for leaks. It does, however, mean that tenants must report leaks that they actually know about. This certainly includes notifying the landlord of any obvious leaks in a bathroom.
If the tenant knew about a leak, allowed it to persist without any repair efforts or notice to the landlord, he or she may have some liability for the damages.
Your leak occurred over much time. It could have been a very slight leak that was not easily seen. Thus, if there was a very slight leak and the tenant was not aware of it, there probably would not be any liability on the tenant’s part for the damages.
Make Arrangements on Phone Charges
Q: I regularly rent my fully furnished home for two to three months during the summer while I travel. I understand that California law requires that I provide a full accounting and/or return any balance of the security deposit within 21 days after termination of the tenancy. However, if I allow the tenant to use my personal telephone, then the long-distance calls may not be billed until well after the 21-day limit.
Can I charge a separate telephone deposit to be held until I am sure there are no more long-distance calls charged to my phone? Or can I return a portion of the security deposit and state that I am withholding a certain portion until my phone bills are cleared?
Kellman replies:
Any money that you (the landlord) collect that is not rent or an application-screening fee will most likely be considered a general refundable security deposit. If you call it a “telephone deposit,” it is still a security deposit governed by the deposit law, which requires an accounting and refund to be sent to the tenant within 21 days of moving out.
If the refund is not made within this time period, you may be liable to pay the tenant a $600 penalty if the noncompliance was in “bad faith.” You probably could avoid the penalty by describing a good-faith reason for the delay, with assurances of expedited action on the deposit, in a preliminary accounting sent to the tenant within 21 days of moving out. Returning a portion of the deposit while waiting for the telephone bill to come is certainly evidence of good-faith handling of the situation.
Griswold replies:
Some long-distance carriers only bill bimonthly, which almost guarantees that you will not be able to provide a complete final accounting within the legally required 21 days. You can have tenants pay a deposit directly to the phone company, although you will still have a problem if their long-distance charges are high and exceed the phone company deposit.
My best advice as a property manager is to either 1) slightly increase your monthly rent to cover local phone service and block all toll calls (long distance, 900, etc.); or, 2) have tenants put the phone in their name since they will be renting for two to three months.
This column is written by property manager Robert Griswold, host of “Real Estate Today!” (KSDO-AM [1130], 10 a.m. to noon Saturdays), and attorneys Steven R. Kellman, director of the Tenants’ Legal Center, and Ted Smith, principal in a law firm representing landlords. If you have a question, send it to Rental Roundtable, Real Estate section, L.A. Times, Times Mirror Square, L.A., CA 90053. Or you may e-mail them at rgriswold.latimes@retodayradio.com. Questions should be brief and to the point and cannot be answered individually.
