Security Deposit Small Claims: Tenant Rights & Legal Steps

[00:00:04]thank you for joining us today my name is Kelsey ainson I am a staff attorney with the legal aid Foundation of Los Angeles and this presentation will be presented also by my uh law clerk joshuel Calderone today's presentation is our security deposit small claims Workshop today's presentation has a couple of goals first is to understand the rule to demand a security deposit when a tenant moves in then we'll talk about the rules and procedures a landlord must follow to return or retain a tenant security deposit after they move out and lastly we'll talk about a tenants rights to sue for their security deposit if it is not returned in compliance with the law so with those goals in mind the presentation breaks down into three different parts first we'll talk about what is a security security deposit and the rules for how much a security deposit can be demanded in certain situations then we'll talk about what are the rules for returning a tenant security deposit and lastly we'll discuss what tenants can do if their security deposit is not return properly so for our first part of the presentation as I mentioned we'll start with what is a security deposit a security deposit is any money that landlord charges at the beginning of the tency and it can be used for the following things it can be used to repair damages to the premises caused by a tenant or a tenant's guest Beyond normal wear and tear it can be used to clean the premises back to the same condition as when a tenant moved in and a security deposit can be used to restore or return the landlord's personal property in the unit if the rental agreement allows for that um and this is not an ex exive list of all the permissible uses of a security deposit this is only uh some of the main examples that are specifically listed by law um the overall rules for charging payment and return of a security deposit are governed by the California civil code section 1950.5 and that is the one and only law that discusses all of the different rules for charging and returning security deposits that we're going to discuss today um so this is a really helpful resource and I would recommend looking at this law if you're considering taking action uh legally for your security deposit so uh there are some limits in terms of how much of a security deposit a landlord is allowed to charge a landlord can charge a maximum security deposit of two months rent for an unfurnished unit and three months rent for a furnished unit um security deposit limits are are reduced uh below these numbers for US military service members and the rules for that are are explained in that civil code section 1950.5 one note to be aware of is that effective July 1st 2024 landlords can charge a maximum security deposit of one month rent so this is a new change in the law that is not going to be retroactive so will only be effective for folks starting tencies from July 1st 2024 onwards um and this law again says that landlords will only be allowed to charge a maximum security deposit of one month's rent some other limits with respect to deposits a security deposit can never be characterized as nonrefundable any lease provision stating a security deposit is non-refundable is un enforceable so this means if you're looking at a lease agreement uh or considering signing a lease agreement and it says that you know tenant shall pay a $3,000 non-refundable security deposit that phrase that sentence in the lease is void as a matter of law um tenants always under California law have the opportunity to get their deposit back through the processes that we're going to talk about in more detail with respect to um the landlords having to prove damages to the unit or explain why they need to keep the tenants deposit um so again these deposits can never be framed as just outright non-refundable there is a process uh where tenants have the opportunity to get their entire deposit back and that cannot be waved an additional uh point with respect to limits on deposits and how much of a security deposit can be charged is around pet deposits so landlords can charge an additional pet deposit as long as that total security deposit Still Remains below the maximum security deposit limits that we talked about a couple slides ago and a pet deposit also cannot be represented as non-refundable that said it's important to understand um that there can be some differences in the language that are very important so it is true that the landlords can charge a pet deposit that subject to these security deposit limits and it cannot be represented as non-refundable however some leases characterize additional um cost for having a pet in the unit as pet rent or a pet fee as opposed to a pet deposit and these restrictions and these protections do not apply to pet rent or pet fees so this is specific what I'm talking about here is specific to pet deposits a pet rent or a pet fee is something different and it is not subject to the security deposit laws another thing with respect to pets and additional deposits or fees relating to pets landlords cannot charge a pet deposit or additional fees for any pet that is an emotional support animal or service animal um so a service animal is a dog that is individually trained and certified to work or perform a task for the benefit of an individual with a disability so example of a service animal would be a seeing eye dog for someone that is blind or vision impaired um and emotional support animal is an animal that provides emotional cognitive or other similar support to a person with a disability to assist them in managing the symptoms of their disability so this is a much broader category than a service animal an emotional support animal can be any animal it doesn't have to be a dog um and so an example of an emotional support animal could be if you have um you know documentation from your doctor saying that you are allowed to have a cat to help you um deal with anxiety um for more information on emotional support animals and service animals and you know accessibility rights and reasonable accommodation rights with respect to esas and service animals you can look at these resources on the slide but the key takeaway here with respect to security deposits is that if your animal is a Esa or a service animal the landlord cannot charge a pet deposit or require you to pay an additional pet fee or pet rent um for that animal under California law and the Fair Employment and housing act so um other limits with respect to security deposits to be aware of if the property that you're living in is sold or transferred during the tency the new landlord so the new owner of the building becomes responsible for returning the security deposit after you move out so if somebody bought the unit while you were living there um and is different than the landlord that you initially signed your lease in when you moved in when you move out that new landlord the new owner is legally liable for um returning your security deposit in compliance with state law all right so I'm going to turn it over to joshu well to talk about what is the process for returning a tenant security deposit thank you so much Kelsey hi everyone I'm joshell I am a law school student and a law clerk here at here at the um legal aid Foundation of Los Angeles I am not a licensed part attorney and what I'm about to present is not legal advice on what is the process for returning a tenant security deposit so tenants can request their landlord to conduct an inspection of the property prior to you moving out of your unit um the request inspection um cannot be earlier than two weeks before moving out and the landlord must give you a 48 hours written notice prior to conducting the inspection at the inspection the landlord can inform the tenant of any property deficiencies they can provide you an itemized statement or List specifying the needed repairs and or cleaning it provides you as the tenant an opportunity to fix any issues before moving out to avoid deductions from the deposit so within 21 days of moving out the landlord has one of two options they can either return your deposit in full or they can provide a statement of deductions and return any remaining balances a quick note is that um any deductions over $125 must include receipts so a quick example is that if you paid $1,000 for your security deposit and you only got got $900 back that $100 deduction they do the landlord would not need to provide receipts for that deduction so if a landlord keeps part or all of the tenant security deposit they must provide an accounting detailing how the deposit was spent the accounting must include an itemized list of needed repairs and the invoices and receipts for those repairs if the landlord cannot repair damage within the 21-day period the landlord May deduct the amount of a good faith estimate of the charges so a landlord is allowed to deduct from the security deposit for unpaid rent damage caused by tenants or guests Beyond ordinary wear and tear and we'll get to that in a moment or cleaning the unit to restore it to the same condition as it was as you know prior to moving in however a landlord cannot deduct from the security deposit for habitability or general maintenance issues at the property an example this could be like a new water heater for example um ordinary wear and tear or cleaning the unit to a better condition than at moveing so wear and tear simple wearing which is defined as simple wearing down because of normal use or aging and includes moderate dirt or spotting when moving out this can be a very um contentious point between landlords and tenants as mentioned earlier you know water heaters or things like locks but often times it includes carpeting drapes paint you know shingles on Windows things like that um so for carping and drapes we uh like to apply the useful life rule for this um the tenant is responsible for cost to repair or replace to the extent the landlord loses out on the remaining use of that item so for carpet the general useful life is about 10 years um for paint interior paint in general has a two to three year lifespan so if a tency um has been there less than two to three years the tenants can be responsible for portion of repainting costs but if the tenant has been there over two to three years the tenant in general is not responsible for painting costs again this is a a high point of contention between you know tenants and landlords so I really recommend using that resource below the California Department of Consumer repair Affairs the refund of security deposits and to see that section on suggested approach to security deposit deductions and now we'll hand it over back to Kelsey who will discuss um what contendant do if this security deposit is not returned thank you so much great so um when a security deposit is not returned so the first thing a tenant can do is uh write a demand letter so again by the letter of the law under civil code section 1950.5 the landlord is required to provide the deposit back to the tenant or an accounting of how the deposit was spent within 21 days of the tenant moving out after that 21-day period passes the first step that a tenant can undertake is sending what's called a demand letter to the landlord so um there are numerous different samples that you can look at to help you in writing a demand letter um I really recommend looking at the resources in the yellow box on the slide here uh the First Resource is from an organization called tenants together and they have a sample letter Bank on their website including sample letters and templates where to send a demand letter to your landlord contesting security deposit deductions so if your landlord um made deductions that you disagree with you believe this isn't damage that you cause things like that you can send a letter saying I can test this and you know here's why um so the tenants together demand letter bank has a sample letter for that on their website they also have a General demand letter for return of a security deposit so um if you moved out of your unit it's been over 21 days you haven't heard from the landlord about anything and you haven't gotten your deposit back this General demand letter can be a good starting point um the other resource you can take a look at is on the California Courts website they have a demand letter generator where you can put in some of your basic information and it will actually um basically pop out a demand letter for you that you can send to the landlord requesting your deposit back if the landlord does not respond to your demil letter or refuses to refund your deposit in compliance with the law then you may want to consider filing a lawsuit in small claims court so to file a small claims case uh some here's a couple of the basic steps so you can start a small claims lawsuit by filing a document called a complaint with the court so the small claims complaint is a court form sc100 it's called a plaintiff's claim in order to go to small claims court so you fill out this document you take it to the court you file it with the court clerk um once you file this with the court and you get the case officially on file you then need to serve the complaint on the landlord so you need to formally deliver these documents notifying them of the lawsuit um and then you will be able to present your case at your small claims court hearing explaining to the court that you believe the landlord is incorrectly or unjustifiably retaining your security deposit um we have a number of resources available to help tenants navigate small claims Port specifically for return of their security deposits so one thing to look at is in this yellow box here is our small claims pocket guide for tenants this document explains all of the steps of the small claims support process it includes links to additional informational videos and Sample forms to help you get going and get a case started and the self-help guide for return of a security deposit is also a really helpful resource um this includes template demand letters as well it also includes um sample language and templates for what to include in your small claims support complaint when you're asking for return of your security deposit so these are two excellent resources they're available on the lafla tenant small claims project uh website on lafa.tv then prove to the judge that any deductions being made by the landlord are not reasonable um so for proof of the security deposit amount this can most easily be proved by a written lease agreement most lease agreements say in them expressly how much the security deposit was if you do not have your a written lease or you don't have a copy of your lease um that's okay there's still other ways to prove the existence and the amount of the security deposit um a couple examples of that would be um a canceled check uh or a receipt sometimes when tenants Mo start a tency the landlord will give them a receipt for like you know their first month last month and the security deposit so if you have that receipt that can show to go to prove that you paid the deposit um and prior consistent statements or actions by the landlord or tenant can also prove the existence of the deposit so if you were emailing or texting with the landlord about your security deposit um and they agreed that you know your security deposit was $2,000 and they're not giving any of it back that shows that they're agreeing and they accept that this security deposit does in fact exist um so those are a couple things you can do to work around if you don't have your written lease on hand just to prove that the security deposit amount you're asking for is correct and you also will want to bring proof that any deductions that the landlord is trying to claim were unreasonable and so the exact evidence you're going to want to bring is really specific to your case and specific to your situation but some common examples of things that you'll want to bring to court with you to this show to the court um one photos or videos of the condition of the unit when you moved in photos or videos of conditions of the unit when you moved out um so these can be really key to show you know uh this is what it looks like when I moved in this is what it looks like when I left as you can see I did not cause damage Beyond wear and tear um if you only have evidence of the condition when you moved out that's still okay um it is certainly better than nothing um and so again that can go to show if the landlord is claiming that you know you there was a hole in the wall in the living room and you have a video of you walking through the apartment where there wasn't a hole in the wall um that can still to show that you know there's they're trying to claim that you cause damage that you didn't cause they're making claims that aren't true um you can also provide receipts for any repairs you made prior to moving out so especially if you took advantage of the pre-move out inspection option if you took the time to repair and fix and address any of the issues that the landlord enumerated in the pre-move out inspection um and they're then trying to charge you for those things again um in the security deposit statement then um be sure to have documentation showing that you paid someone to do it um documentation that you did the work if you did it yourself um emails or text messages between you and your landlord discussing the move out damages or the deposit so anything that can go to show that the landlord might have at one point said to you yeah shouldn't be a problem everything here looks good um to kind of show that you know you were represented that there weren't any issues and that you were anticipating you would receive your deposit back um so anything along those lines uh and quotes and estimates showing the costs that the landlord claims for certain repairs are unreasonable or inaccurate so this is more likely to apply in a situation where for example the landlord is trying to charge you for painting the unit and they're trying to claim that it cost $5,000 to paint a one-bedroom unit that's really high um something you can do to try and get you know some proof that this was not reasonable is you can call other painting companies and ask for a quote of how much it would cost to paint you know a standard one bedroom apartment and keep documentation of that to show that what they're asking for what they're claiming is completely unreasonable and lastly with respect to damages um in security deposit cases so if the court finds that the landlord withheld the security deposit in bad SP the court is allowed they're not required to and they are you know in no way obligated to but they have the option to award you additional damages of up to two times the original security deposit amount the court can do this on its own without you specifically asking the court to do that um that said I I think it's always helpful to let the court know that this is an option that they have again they're not required to do this it's considered discretionary um and you're not guaranteed to be awarded um the full two times the deposit amount it's again up to the judge if they think these additional damages are warranted and how much additional damages the judge is going to order the landlord to potentially pay um but it is something to be aware of um and bring to the attention of the judge um and lastly in these cases you know usually in a small claims court case the plaintiff is going to be the one who has the burden of proof meaning they are the ones who it is on them to prove their case or convince the judge that what they're saying happened and the evidence they're presenting is true um in security deposit cases there is a little bit more onus on the landlord to prove that the charges they're claim Ing and charging you as their former tenant um is reasonable that said I still really encourage coming to court fully armed with all of your evidence be prepared um be prepared to show um EV be prepared to show everything um you know uh don't rely on the landlord with what the landlord may or may not show up with in court um so always be prepared to put your best foot forward if you do end up taking a case to small claims so that gets us to the end of the content for today's presentation a couple of resources that I would like to point out is first the California courts they have a self-help page which includes a detailed guide on security deposits in California my program the lafa renters small claims project we have a website on la.org so that's l.org or and you can look at our library of resources on the small claims court process um and different self-help guides there and I linked here again as well the California civil code section 1950.5 this is the section of the law that specifically discusses security deposits um and can be really helpful um knowledge for tenants to be armed with and um the LA Department of Business and consumer affairs so the dcba they have a security deposit frequently asked questions page that you can take a look at here and the LA county is small claims advisor so the LA dcba is also the small claims advisor for all of LA county and they on their website have an excellent library of videos that explain the small Clan support process in more detail they also have a library of sample court forms that can be really helpful if you're not sure how to fill out a certain document that you would like to file so that's everything that we have for today I want to thank everybody for joining us today um and I hope you have a good rest of your day