‘Holidays’ may preempt when the rent is due
Question: A friend told me that if the first day of the month falls on a weekend or holiday, I don’t have to pay my apartment rent until the next business day. Is this true?
Answer: Your friend is correct. California Civil Code Sections 7 and 11, and California Civil Code of Procedure Section 12a cover when rent is legally due, whether you pay on the first of the month or another date.
Sections 7 and 12a define holidays to include Saturday, Sunday and special legal holidays. Section 11 states that “when an act is to be performed upon a particular day, which day falls upon a holiday, it may be performed upon the next business day, with the same effect as if it had been performed upon the day appointed.”
The reference to “an act” in Section 11 would include your rental agreement, which states the date rent is due. These laws also apply to any grace period listed in the agreement as well as the due date listed on a three-day notice to pay rent or quit.
However, your landlord may proceed with legal action if he or she does not agree with the interpretation. You would then need to convince a judge that you were within your rights.
Profiling tenants violates the law
Question: Since Sept. 11, I’ve been thinking about the noncitizen tenants who live in an apartment complex I manage. Most of them have lived here for several years, and at the time they moved in, I didn’t require extensive personal or financial information. Can I ask for this information now?
Answer: Asking for personal and financial information from noncitizens could lead to a fair housing complaint against your property owner. Theoretically, a landlord could ask for such information, but only if he or she asks for it from all tenants living in the complex.
Singling out the noncitizen tenants discriminates on the basis of national origin. A landlord cannot require stricter standards for tenancy from one group and lower standards from another group. This is the most basic type of discrimination.
If you wish to gather this information, be sure to request it from all tenants. In terms of post-Sept. 11 worries, landlords should be aware of any suspicious behavior by tenants but should not begin to question tenants without a reason. Profiling based on race or national origin is discrimination.
‘Monthly pet fee’ must be clarified
Question: I now have a cat, so I am searching for a new apartment that allows pets. I found an ideal unit, but the manager told me, if I moved in, there would be a “monthly pet fee” added to the rent. I’ve never heard of such a fee. What do you think?
Answer: The term “monthly pet fee” is not a common one used by the rental industry. This fee is either in addition to the security deposit or a rent increase under a different name.
The maximum deposit that can be collected during a tenancy is twice the monthly rent for an unfurnished unit or three times for a furnished unit. This ceiling applies regardless of whether the deposit is related to a pet.
If the manager is already requiring you to pay a deposit equal to twice the monthly rent (or three times for a furnished unit), an additional monthly pet fee is not allowed. If you are not paying twice the rent as a deposit, I suppose you could pay the monthly pet fee until a total of twice (or three times) the monthly rent has been reached.
If this fee is required on a monthly basis without limit, then it constitutes a rent increase and should be viewed as part of your rental obligation, again regardless of whether it is for a pet or for any other reason.
If you chose to move into the unit, make sure the written rental agreement spells out whether this fee is a security deposit or an ongoing rental obligation.
Project Sentinel is a rental housing mediation service in Sunnyvale, Calif. Questions may be sent to 1055 Sunnyvale-Saratoga Road, Suite 3, Sunnyvale, CA 94087. For housing discrimination questions, complaints or help, call the Southern California Housing Rights Center at (800) 477-5977.
