Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

1. Tenants left the property on May 31, 2022

2. Upon move-out inspection, it was found blinds were misused, broken in 2 rooms out of 3

3. Blinds were really high-quality Hunter Douglas top-of-the-line installed in Nov 2008 and cost about $6,000 total

4. The property manager made attempts to repair which cost $180. The vendor could not repair the blinds

5. Ultimately lower quality cheaper version was put in place in 2 rooms that cost about $1,500. The original blinds were left in the 3rd room since they were fine

6. Can the cost to repair + replace =$1680 be deducted from the security deposit?

7. There were lot of other damage to the house and it took 2 months to get the house in rentable condition. Can loss of income be charged to the tenants?


Asked on 9/10/22, 5:03 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

A landlord certainly can deduct the cost of replacing damaged fixtures, and can deduct for the difference between the normal time to get a unit ready to rent again and the time caused by substantially more restoration due to tenant misconduct. Your problem, however, is that you were required to account for the deposit to the tenant within 21 days of them moving out, and if there was any money left in the deposit, return it within that same time.

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Answered on 9/11/22, 11:59 am


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