Legal Question in Business Law in California
California Tenant's right
Under California law a landlord must give the tenants the security deposit with invoices of the deductions made for repairs on the apartment when the tenants move out and with 21 days of them moving out. What if the landlord doesn't provide the security deposit nor invoice within the 21 days and give it too you afterwards with the deductions is he allowed to do this after 21 days or can I get all my money back because of this law?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: California Tenant's right
If the landlord doesn't provide either you can seek a judgment in small claims court.
Re: California Tenant's right
There is a minor exception (at Civil Code section 1950.5(g)(3)) to the general 21-day rule set forth in 1950.5(g); also, courts would be inclined to rule in favor of a landlord who acted in good faith and was slowed up by factors beyond his, her or its control, such as the tenant not providing a forwarding address.
Also, the landlord's bad-faith delay does not merely entitle the former tenant to a 100% refund. The civil penalty for bad-faith failure to comply with 1950.5(g) is found in 1950.5(l) (that's a small letter "L" in the parentheses). The tenant may be entitled to actual damages plus twice the amount of the deposit if a refund and accounting are withheld in bad faith.
The law doesn't say what happens if there is no bad faith proven by the tenant/plaintiff, but one would guess ordinary rules of damages for breach of a duty imposed by law would apply, and the tenant would be entitled only to proven actual damages, and no more.
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