Can ad specify Cantonese speaker?
Question: I recently tried to place a newspaper ad to rent a room in my home. I would like to specify in the ad that I only want a Cantonese-speaking tenant. Is it permissible to limit consideration of potential tenants this way?
Answer: The answer depends on the reason why you want to limit your ad to Cantonese-speaking applicants. Many readers would interpret such a limitation as excluding anyone who is not Chinese. It would be a violation of the fair housing laws to include such a limitation if it is a pretext to hide your desire to only rent to Chinese tenants.
However, if you have a valid safety or operational need for a Cantonese speaker, you could overcome the suspicion of discrimination.
One possible valid explanation might be that you are only capable of giving or understanding simple responses or directions in Cantonese. For example, if you could only talk to a tenant about the need to properly turn off the stove in Cantonese, you could claim that you have a non-discriminatory motive.
For more information on discriminatory advertising, contact your local fair housing agency.
Manager has own way of figuring
Question: I gave a 30-day notice to move on the 15th of next month. My rent is $1,200 a month and the manager calculated the rent for next month as $50 a day for the 15 days I will occupy the property. When I calculated the daily rate, I came up with $40 a day. The manager told me she was rounding up the daily rental rate in case I stay over a day or two. Is this correct?
Answer: No. The rent due for your last month’s rent must be exact. If you were to pay and the manager were to accept the $50 a day, or $750, then your 30-day notice could be invalidated since you would have paid rent for time beyond the 30-day notice. In this case, if you wished, you could stay on as a tenant.
The California standard to determine a daily rate is to divide the rent by 30, even for months with 29 or 31 days. For those rent amounts that do not divide evenly, round up to the nearest cent; for example, $46.666 would be $46.67 a day.
Your calculation of $40 a day is correct and you will owe the landlord $600 for the next month’s rent. If it becomes necessary to stay a day or two over your 30-day time period, with the property owner’s permission the additional rent could be deducted from the security deposit after you vacate the property. Civil Code 1950.5 allows for unpaid rent to be deducted from a tenant’s security deposit.
Do I have to pay late rent fees?
Question: About five years ago I was unemployed and had to pay my rent late for two months. My landlord was very understanding and allowed me to pay the rent late. We recently had a slight misunderstanding and she is now telling me I owe $50 for late fees from five years ago. Late fees are not listed on my rental agreement. Do I have to pay the $50?
Answer: No, because late fees are not currently a part of your rental agreement, your landlord cannot request payment of the $50.
To modify your rental agreement to include collection of late fees, your landlord must give you a 30-day Change of Terms Notice. Even if they were part of your current rental agreement, your landlord has probably waived this claim by failing to request payment in five years.
At best, even when late fees are stated in a rental agreement, they can be difficult to collect. For example, late fees can’t be deducted from security deposits and can’t be requested on a 3-Day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit. Therefore, it generally remains a tenant’s choice to pay them or not. If a tenant decides not to pay and a landlord continues to insist on payment, the landlord must pursue legal action, such as small claims court.
In your case, any applicable statute of limitations has probably expired.
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This column is prepared by Project Sentinel, a rental mediation service in Sunnyvale, Calif. Questions may be sent to 1055 Sunnyvale-Saratoga Road, Suite 3, Sunnyvale, CA 94087, but cannot be answered individually. For housing discrimination questions or help, call the state Department of Fair Housing and Employment at (800) 233-3212 or the Fair Housing Council, Fair Housing Institute or Fair Housing Foundation office in your area.
