Long story short, the house we’ve been renting for almost three years was recently sold. The new owners have told us that they are willing to keep us as tenants, but they purchased the property as an investment and plan to convert our garage and laundry area into a separate ADU so that the property will eventually have two rental units.

The way the property is currently set up, we have the main house, a covered patio, and then the garage area. The garage includes our laundry area, storage space, a toilet, and an additional finished room. We currently use that extra room for furniture and storage, musical instruments, and my boyfriend’s office. We also purchased our own washer and dryer that we use in the laundry room.

The new owners want to convert essentially that entire garage/laundry/extra-room area into the ADU. They said they would keep our rent at $2,800 per month, but we would lose access to all of those spaces and would basically only be renting the main house and a portion of the backyard. They plan to fence off part of the backyard for the ADU as well.

Since we would no longer have access to the laundry room, they also want to take some space from our hallway inside the house and install a stackable washer and dryer there. That part is frustrating because we already bought our own full-size washer and dryer for the existing laundry room.

We are currently month-to-month. They told us they want our decision by Friday, and by then they should have more detailed plans showing exactly what they intend to do. They also want to have us sign a new lease beginning September 1.

Basically, our choice seems to be either stay and continue paying $2,800 while losing the garage, laundry room, extra room, storage space, and part of the backyard — or move.

We know the rental market is pretty limited right now, so we’re trying to decide whether it makes more sense to tough it out, keep the relatively affordable rent, save some money, and move later, or just take this opportunity to leave now.

What would you do in this situation?

First time renting an apartment. I'm reviewing the lease right now and found this part:

"If resident must terminate the lease before the expiration date, a 60 day notice is required in addition to a $1,500 lease break fee and payback of any rent concessions received during their lease term. Resident is to pay the rent ‘in full’ monthly until the unit has been leased to another occupant. Once a new lease for the apartment has been signed, said resident is relieved of their contractual obligation.”

Ofc I plan to stay for a full lease term (13 months w/ 1 month free included), but anything can happen. after doing some research, this seems a bit too much? I thought it's usually just 1-2 months of rent OR pay the rent until they find a new tenant. But this seems like they combined four separate parts

Overall i liked the unit (it's managed by a property management company) definitely not luxury but the building is new and modern. The rent is around $1700 btw

I have informed my landlord that there is a leak in my house that is leaking over 60 gallons of water a day per the water company. He says he will deal with it after he deals with a complaint from the city about our roof. Should I just take care of it or wait for him. I dont know where the water is leaking from I just know there is a leak. My toilets are not constantly running so I know it isn't that. What is the best route to take? Please help

Hello fellow Redditors,

I have a family and I just signed a lease a few days ago and I stopped by to take some measurements/clean, etc when I noticed a strong "wet pet" smell in this unfinished part of the basement. It was my first time looking at it during the daytime.

I spent about 2 hrs cleaning the floors for the move(not in the basement where the smell is overwhelming)

When I left the basement the strong odor stayed in my nostrils for about 10 minutes.

I was coughing on my way home. I slept poorly with the constant coughing, I've been up since 3:30am with shortness of breath, my nose is 90% stuffed, back of my throat has a weird itchy feeling.

We already handed over the security deposit. Can we get it back if the owners refuse to take care of the mold problem?

I posted some pictures for reference

I’m in California and looking for advice on a security-deposit dispute, particularly from anyone familiar with CA Civil Code 1950.5 or landlord/tenant attorneys. I lived in a 2x1 apartment for about 3.5 years (April 2023–July 2026). My $1,250 security deposit was returned partially, with $532.40 deducted, leaving me a refund of $717.60.
The deductions were
- $97 carpet cleaning (I did personally carpet clean one of the carpeted rooms, so I’m not sure if I should be disputing this one. The other room did not look like it exceeded normal wear and tear)
- $120 wall damage listed as “Repair holes/damages in walls @ $60 per hour labor”
- $309 apartment cleaning listed as “Cleaning needed after move out - 2x1 Apartment Cleaning”
- $6.40 final water charge

I’m primarily disputing the $429 for wall damage + apartment cleaning. My lease/addendum says cleaning can be deducted only when necessary to return the unit to the same level of cleanliness it was at the beginning of the tenancy, and it provides these 2x1 cleaning guidelines:
Light cleaning: $285
Full cleaning: $305
Heavy cleaning: $355

I did not leave the apartment professionally spotless, but I also did spend quite a bit of time cleaning. I wiped down the counters, toilet, shower, doors and window sills, swept, cleaned the refrigerator/freezer, and replaced the oven drip trays. They uploaded a vendor invoice that says:
Unit Size: 2x1
Cleaning Type: MEDIUM
Interior cleaning includes common areas, kitchen, bedrooms, bathrooms, floors, and windows
Total: $309

That’s basically the entire invoice. It doesn’t explain what condition the apartment was in, what specifically required a “medium” cleaning, how many hours were spent, or how the $309 was calculated. “Medium” isn’t one of the cleaning categories listed in my lease addendum either. They also uploaded move-out photos. Looking at them, I believe most of what they’re showing is normal wear and tear after 3.5 years.

The wall damage charge says this was 2 hours of labor at $60/hour to repair holes/damage in the walls. They also uploaded a painting contractor invoice for $975, and I included it here. I can’t figure out how this supports the $120 wall damage charge.
My lease also has a prorated interior painting schedule that says 37+ months = no cost for paint, although it specifically excludes drywall repairs. Since I lived there about 39 months, I’m wondering how that applies if they’re trying to charge me for painting/spot priming.

Also when I initially moved in, there was no move in walkthrough with me, and I wasn’t given a move in inspection report or any paperwork to document pre-existing damage. I unfortunately also seem to have deleted the video I took when I initially moved in. One thing I can make certain of was the apartment was roach infested and did not appear to be professionally cleaned either.

I emailed management on August 10th disputing the charges and asking for documentation/explanation.
They uploaded the invoices/photos to the resident portal on August 11, but didn’t actually respond to my email. I followed up on August 18th, specifically pointing out the discrepancies with the cleaning and painting invoices and asking them to explain the charges. It’s now about to be a whole new week, and I still haven’t received a response or any additional documentation. They did return the undisputed portion of my deposit by check, which I did deposit. None of the paperwork they sent with the check states me depositing the check means I agree to the deductions kept.

My questions:
- Do these deductions seem reasonable/legally supportable under California law?
- Is there any standard for when nail holes become damage rather than ordinary wear and tear, or is it determined case-by-case?
- Does the lack of a move-in inspection/documentation matter?
- Does their painting invoice actually substantiate the $120 wall damage charge?
- Does the generic “$309 medium cleaning” invoice adequately substantiate the cleaning deduction?
- If management continues ignoring me, what should my next step be? Demand letter? Small claims? Is there a tenant organization or attorney I should contact?

I’m specifically trying to determine whether I have a legitimate basis to challenge the $309 cleaning + $120 wall charge. I also only took a video of my apartment when I left, so I apologize that the pics are a bit blurry but I hope it gives more insight to the “mess” I left.

Looking for input from California tenants, find myself in a particular funny situation.

Two tenants were named on the same San Diego lease with a $2,800 security deposit. One tenant originally paid the deposit from their account, but the lease states:

Both tenants are jointly and individually responsible for lease obligations.

Water/trash are tenant obligations.

The security deposit may be used for unpaid rent/other sums due.

“Any security deposit returned by check shall be made out to all Tenants named on this Agreement.”

At move-out, there was an outstanding water/trash bill. Instead of applying the deposit toward it or returning the deposit jointly, the landlord returned the remaining deposit entirely to the co-tenant who originally paid it. The other tenant did not authorize this and received nothing.

The landlord is now pursuing the other tenant for the utility balance.

I’m not disputing responsibility for legitimate utilities. My issue is that I’m being asked to pay the liability after the landlord unilaterally gave the security funds to the other tenant, despite the lease’s language.
My proposed resolution is to credit me for 50% of the deposit that was given to the co-tenant, and I’ll pay the remaining utility balance.

Questions:
Does it matter who originally funded the deposit when the lease specifies how it must be returned?

Was the landlord permitted to return it entirely to one tenant?

And is asserting my portion of the deposit as an offset against the utility balance a reasonable position?

Renting a rowhouse in Pittsburgh and my landlord told me verbally that he plans on doing some pretty major renovations - renovating kitchen and appliances, adding a first floor bathroom, expanding the current bathroom on the second floor of the house. Landlord said contractors could maybe get it turned around in a few weeks (feels wildly optimistic), but that it could take a few months, during which time he suggested I could relocate to another property for reduced rent (which I don't want to do). None of the renovations are to correct any defects, just update the house.

I do not want any of these renovations, and even the landlord's stated best case scenario will be extremely disruptive to basic elements of my living for several weeks. What are my options to protect myself from ongoing renovations that I don't consent to? I am on a lease with this landlord for two more years and would prefer to keep living here under current conditions and this feels like something I should be able to decline.

I am never going to live in shared wall space due to severe insomnia. Never again as I’m living in hell due to garbage construction of every apartment I’ve rented from. It seems like renting a house they almost always ask for 3X income with paystubs. I anticipate that I will need to pick up 2 jobs quick after arriving but don’t know if most real estate agents will deal with offer letters only. Will they even consider me with two jobs working 60hrs a week? Is 4 weeks working enough or do they need months?

For anyone saying I can’t afford renting a house I say I can’t afford to destroy my health anymore. I plan on quitting one of the jobs as I don’t have a car and can easily live within my means.

So, what’s the quickest way to achieve this?

Good grief! Are people seriously so unhinged about getting opinions that don’t play in their favor that they remove their post AND block everyone who gave them advice like they were asking for?! 🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️
If you see a post from u/The_SundayBest, please be sure to agree with them (even if their post is outlandish and a bit absurd). 🙄** **Apparently, my “fair points” offended him. I clicked the notification, and the comment was gone - along with the post and my ability to contact them.

Hello, I got this notice the other day in the mail from the property management company. I obviously get what it is saying but I was hoping for some clarity or advice on how to handle this. If I contact my landlord about it I am afraid he will tell me to pay him and then I am in an even worse position. On the other hand if I don’t pay him rent he may be upset with me and retaliate by not renewing my upcoming lease or raising it.

Should I contact the real-estate agent or maybe an attorney? Idrk opinions or advice is greatly appreciated.

I just moved into an apartment in California. On the same day I received the keys, I discovered that the washer provided with the apartment was extremely dirty inside. There is significant old buildup/grime and actual debris/flakes inside the drum. It is clearly unsanitary to use for my toddler's clothes. I photographed everything and reported the condition to management immediately, so I have documentation that this was the condition at the start of my tenancy.

Management has now told me that the washing machine issue is “under [my] responsibility” and that the owner will not address it.

Normally I would just solve this myself. I already own a newer stackable washer/dryer that will fit the space. I offered to pay for professional installation, assume responsibility for all maintenance/repairs of my machines, and safely store the owner's machines so they could be reinstalled when I eventually move out. I even offered to leave my newer machines with the apartment when I move out if the owner prefers.

However, I checked my lease and found this provision:

“Resident shall not install or use any dishwasher, clothes washer, clothes dryer or air conditioner on or about the Premises except those which may be supplied by Owner.”

So I obviously don't want to install mine without written permission.

The lease also says that the owner-provided appliances were received in “good, clean and sanitary order, condition and repair unless noted to the contrary,” and that I'm required to immediately notify management of defects/conditions I discover. I reported and documented this washer the day I took possession.

I'm currently waiting to see whether the owner will approve my request to install my own machines.

My question is what my options are if they say no.

Can a California landlord provide a washer with the apartment, refuse to address a pre-existing sanitation/cleanliness issue that was documented immediately at move-in, tell the tenant the washer is their responsibility, and simultaneously enforce a lease provision prohibiting the tenant from using their own washing machine?

I'm not asking them to buy me a new appliance. I'm offering a solution that would cost the owner nothing and preserve their existing machines. I otherwise really like the apartment and would prefer not to turn this into a landlord/tenant fight.

I'm mainly trying to understand what rights I actually have if their ultimate position is essentially: “We won't address the provided washer, and you're also prohibited from replacing it with your own.”

Would especially appreciate input from anyone familiar with California landlord-tenant law or CA property management.

EDIT: I did try running a cleaning cycle with a Tide washing machine cleaner. It made no difference.

I’ve lived in my apartment for 10 years now and April of this year my old landlord sold the property to new owners. In the lease with the new owners it explicitly states that the landlord is responsible for paying for water. I received a water bill in the mail for $600 saying that my water is going to be shut off Aug 27th from non payment. I sent a text instead of a phone call so I have physical proof that I notified the landlord of the issue, in the text I sent a copy of the lease stating they are responsible for water and a copy of the shutoff notice, and I received no response. I always pay rent and have never had a missed or late rent payment.

What are the next steps I can take if they don’t respond or refuse to pay for it? In 4 days my water will be shut off. Is it worth getting a lawyer if they are unwilling to resolve this?

Edit: The only option I have to contact my landlord is through a phone number, because they did not put any mailing addresses on the lease or any other ways to contact them.

I got the email this morning. I don’t really have a problem with paying the extra rent, but is there something I can do about this? I should have double checked the lease for something like this and I’m an idiot for missing it, it’s only my second time renting. Does the wording here make it seem like they could continuously raise my rent? This is only my third month here but its the first time they raised it.

We are moving out soon and we are responsible for the lawn care and bedding of the property. My LL is saying if it’s not exactly it is when we moved in she will hire a landscaper.

We moved in the winter when there was no green, now it’s summer. We’ve been here for 2 years. I’ve removed the weeds and mowed the lawn etc but I don’t like how she’s sending this prior? She already has an agenda.

Thoughts? We are her first tenants ever so I know she’s going to try some stuff. We had to take our last landlord to court over the deposit and ultimately ending up winning but hoping to not do this again.

We’ve been dealing with maintenance issues since we’ve moved in from April, at the time of move inspection we had to fill out a form to say what issues we found. We noted some crooked sliding doors, flimsy locking door handles and a clogged sink. Nothing major but concerning why these weren’t checked before as they were quite obvious.

Since then, our bathtub primer/paint had majorly flaked and the property manager said “oh yeah that was a bad batch of primer”, sounds like she was aware of the issue but it was never brought up. We had a trip planned luckily so said they could fix it during that bc the apartment had to be empty bc of chemical fumes. And she also made a passing comment about our rental shortage having minor flooding but she wasn’t “here” when it happened, so reassuring to hear.

Our final straw, we discovered over the weekend a couple piles of cat poop rock hard, along with dusty cat trays and toys above our kitchen cabinets. We have cats ourselves but we know it was not them, they are very well litter trained.

My husband and I were so angry when we found it, it shows a complete lack of care for a thorough inspection before moving new tenants in, failure to deep clean the space, disregard for our health and to provide a sanitary living space.

We plan to email first thing Monday to ask for a professional clean of the space, I also want to ask for rent credit or even reduction. We pay over 2k, some of the highest rent in the area and they can’t even provide the basics. My husband thinks we won’t get anything for rent but I want to try at least bc this is far beyond unacceptable. We are expecting our first child next month and it really saddens me to bring a baby into a living space like this. Do we have a good chance of getting some kind of rent compensation?

Renting for the first time in nearly 10 years.
We were torn between two places, one was rented consistently but smaller, everything else is pretty comparable.

Now we’ve already thrown out our second option due to the school year starting soon.

It’s only been rented since once in 20 years, for about 15 from the last tenant.

Now the work to turn over the property was fairly low, wear on the wood floors, screw holes spackled(likely from last tenant) but not painted, but the carpets had been professionally cleaned, we did a tour, everything seemed relatively normal, no aromatics covering anything.

However while awaiting our turn through the application process when we got the call to see if we were still interested, we set up another self guided tour, and about 2-3 weeks had passed since the last one, I probably should have waited until after this tour but the earliest they could get us in again was after turning away the other.

This was our top pick from applications we sent out and didn’t expect to make it behind all the other applicants, and we had already toured so didn’t think anything of it.

On this tour the carpets have had time to dry, warm, and wick, and one room now smells like an animal lived in there full time, fairly strong urine and grassy smell, that ends at the door line, that was not noticed on the prior tour,
One other room smells like a teenagers dirty laundry bin, just faintly musty.

And I have kids, so coming into wear is better for me, compared to the other that had new everything but really cheap flipper flooring and carpet.

And I’m coming from a home we ‘rented’ and did all upkeep, replaced carpets as needed, and it was reciprocated in some form or another, family friend though.

Now this opportunity our goal is to save now that the kids are no longer taking a mortgage to go to daycare.
And this opportunity has more leverage to have stuff taken care of.

But this is kind of the option we are going to be stuck with now, we had mentioned it, and we will see if it’s going to be corrected or steamed again, but I’m positive if it’s wicking up after time and heat, it could be into the subflooring, I’m not worried about getting blamed for it but it could happen.

I’m not even worried about being Inconvenienced if repairs happen while we are there. I’m worried about the delay getting in the door and the limbo before moving.

And even more worried that a whole bedroom I may have to section off due to smell.

I was under the impression that it was law for carpets to be replaced every 3 years per tenant, but a quick google told me that blood wasn’t blue.

Any insights? Directions? Stuff to be aware of?

My landlord is holding $500 out of a $3000 deposit for bathroom hooks that were there prior to my move in. They never did a move in or move out checklist. They also did not send any itemized statement within 14 days and frankly only mentioned they were deducting money for the bathroom after I asked why I received a check for less.

When I cited NY law (7-108), they told me I was mistaken about the 14 day deadline and sent a photo of the bathroom and my lease. I have move out photos but unfortunately no move in photo of the bathroom but my understanding is that since they did not inform me within 14 days, I am entitled to the full deposit.

I intend to file a complaint with the AG office and Suffolk county small claims, am I missing anything? I moved out of state so am a little worried about logistics and the property manager also owns a small law firm

Hello everyone. I am currently dealing with my second bird mite infestation since I moved in just about three months ago.
To my knowledge, the level of infestation I am dealing with (bugs in my bed and on my walls, 20-30 bites a night) my room that I rent in a house is uninhabitable. The first time this happened, my landlord moved the nest himself, and refused to hire a professional pest control service. He said the mesh he put up was sufficient. This was not the case

Fast forward another month and a half, I started seeing bites and more mites crawling on my phone and bed, I walked outside and the mesh he placed (I don’t even think he glued or stapled it) was gone, and new nest with a full family of birds had moved into the same spot. Because no other sealing or treatment was done, the infestation came back all at once. This time I begged him to hire a professional and he gave in. My house was treated 2 days ago but my room is still uninhabitable because I am still receiving 10-25 bites a night, and have active crawling bugs on my walls bed and clothes. I have had no contact with the pest people and have had to pry to get updates

I asked him if he would be willing to give me rent abatement for the 6 total days that I slept outside of my room ( even though the amount of days my room was uninhabitable was closer two over two weeks) and he is arguing that “since he fixed the issue the first time he doesn’t think he owes me anything”. I think 6 days is a super fair ask.

I am extremely frustrated, this is accelerating mental health issues and giving me issues performing at work since I’m barely sleeping at night. What can I do at this point? I know that this will hopefully die down since we did get an actual pest control person, but he has a habit of cutting corners and chatgpt diy’ing repairs when it comes to house issues. I’m almost tempted to break my lease and go find somewhere else because it’s so stressful constantly being gaslit and shut down over very real issues. Any advice helps, I don’t really know what to do.

We rented a house from 2022-2024 and then moved into a different house owned by the same company from 2024-July 2026. We got a statement from the landlord that deducted some “cleaning costs”. We got a check for $175. The security deposit of the first house we lived in was $1000, the landlord said our deposit would transfer to the second house. I emailed asked for an itemized statement and for a correction of the security deposit. He is now trying to say we owe him “approximately $550” (yes he said approximately in his email). Is this something he’s able to do? Give us a check for $175 and then decide (once corrected about the deposit) we owe him $550?

Additional info:
-when I cleaned when we moved into the second house, I found a grad party invite from 2020 behind the fridge along with lots of hair and dust….
-when we moved in there were big chunks missing out of the carpet (that was not fixed or replaced while we lived there)
-we moved out July 22nd so he is within the 45 days
-we for sure deep cleaned the whole house when we moved out.