Renter shouldn’t expect an early refund of security deposit

Question: We rent a single-family home in West Hills on a one-year lease that ends Nov. 14. The owner of the house is not renewing the lease, opting to let it automatically convert to a month-to-month rental agreement. He also is raising the rent at the expiration of the lease and has given notice of the raise, effective Dec. 14.

We have decided to move rather than pay the increase, and we will give him a 30-day notice to quit, effective Dec. 14, before the rent increase kicks in.

We’ve done many repairs over the years, and the place is now in better shape than it was when we moved in. We would like to get our $6,000 security deposit refunded as soon as possible. We’ve left the owner about 20 voice mails, but he is not returning our calls. Should we let the 30 days run out and wait for our security-deposit refund, or should we do something now?

Answer: It’s a safe bet that the owner is not going to return your calls if he hasn’t called you back after 20 voice mails. I would give up on trying to reach him by phone. State law requires the owners of residential rental property to refund security deposits to renters within three weeks (21 days) after they move out of their rentals. There is no law requiring the owner to refund the security deposit before the renters move out or before the 21 days have elapsed.

You say in your letter that the house is now in better shape than when you moved in. If that’s true, and there are no cleaning fees, unpaid rent or damages that exceed “normal wear and tear,” you should get a full refund of your deposit by Jan. 4, within the legally required, three-week time frame. If you do not get the refund by Jan. 4 -- or a partial refund and a written explanation of how some or all of it was used to pay for damages, cleaning or unpaid rent, the things for which the owner can deduct money from the deposit -- you can send me a letter asking about the refund, or if you can afford it, have a lawyer send him a letter on his or her letterhead, which tends to be more effective.

If all else fails, as a last resort, you can sue the owner in Small Claims Court for up to $7,500.

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Tenant questions late-rent charge

Question: I live in Los Angeles, and I always have paid my rent on time. I just got a notice from my landlord that he had sent me a late rent notification last March for paying that month’s rent late. The notice said that I would be charged a late fee amounting to 5% of the March rent. He charged me the fee even though I don’t believe the rent was late. For the record, I have proof that my rent check cleared the bank on March 2.

I would like to know what a landlord is allowed to charge a tenant in late fees for a late rent check. Can he charge 5%? Is that 5% per day, which would be 60% of the rent if one was a month late in paying the rent?

Is there no grace period required by law for paying the rent a day or two late?

Answer: A check cashed on the second is not necessarily received on the first. Your rent may have been received and cashed on the second. A landlord can charge a 5% late fee for a late rent payment if it is written into the lease.

Although the law does not specify precisely how much landlords can charge for late fees, 5% per day would be excessive. In our current economy, up to 6% per month is allowed by most courts. In the late ‘70s, when we had double-digit inflation, most courts allowed late fees of up to 10%. Generally, late fees have to bear some rational relationship to the costs one incurs as a result of them.

There is nothing in the law requiring a grace period for late rent payments. They are strictly at the discretion of the owner. Many renters are confused about this because many landlords voluntarily give their tenants grace periods, even writing them into their leases or rental agreements.

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Kevin Postema is the editor of Apartment Age magazine, a publication of the Apartment Assn. of Greater Los Angeles, an apartment owners’ service group. Send letters to aptlifeaagla@aol.com, or mail them to Apartment Age, 621 S. Westmoreland Ave., L.A., CA 90005.