Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California
Landlord-Tenant (30 day notice to vacate)
In accordance with our month to month rental agreement, we gave our on site property manager a 30 day notice of our intentions to vacate on Sep 15. We served the original notice on Aug 8. The property manager refused to open a door to take the notice, but told us to leave it under her door. So, we did. She also said that she won't give us any receipt that she actually received the notice. Just to be on a save side, we decided to send a certified mail to the owner's residence notifying the owner of our intention to vacate and the fact that the original notice was given to the on-site manager. The mail was refused and returned to us. We know that she did that on purpose. Although we know that the original notice was sufficient, we are concerned that the owner refused to accept our certified mail and later will claim that we never gave them a notice.
1. What to do? If we keep the returned mail unopened, will that be a sufficient proof in court of law?
2. It is very difficult to talk to them and we don't know how to pro-rate our September's rent. Should we just take a full month's rent, divide it on 30 days then multiply by 15 days?
3. If the landlord does not return our deposit, what steps do we need to take to file a suit.
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Landlord-Tenant (30 day notice to vacate)
Send it by regular mail. That is sufficient. Keep a copy.
Re: Landlord-Tenant (30 day notice to vacate)
As a matter of law, a rejected certified mail receipt is proof of service. Your calculation of prorated rent is correct. The landlord has 21 days after the notice period ends to return your deposit minus any damages listed on the walk through sheet. Unless you did not request your landlord or manager to do a walk through, in which case damages will be whatever the landlord says they are. If you request a walk through in a notice sent by certified mail and the landlord rejects the notice, then you are entitled to your entire deposit. You can sue your landlord for 3 times your deposit if not timely paid, plus attorney fees if there is an attorney fees clause in your contract.
Re: Landlord-Tenant (30 day notice to vacate)
You have two excellent answers. Follow the advice given.
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