Paid $500 for a tenant dispute lawyer and it saved my deposit

I rented a place in San Diego for 3 years and the landlord tried to keep my full deposit for normal wear and tear. Got a lawyer through the California Tenant Protection Network for a flat $500 fee. They sent one letter citing CA civil code 1950.5 and suddenly the landlord caved. Got back $2,800 after they tried to claim new carpet was my fault. Anyone else deal with shady deposit deductions in CA?

2 comments

2 Comments

wadem896d ago

Bruh that's exactly what happened to me in LA. Landlord tried to ding me for $1,200 for "deep cleaning" and painting the whole place after we lived there 2 years. Like, yeah, walls get scuffed when you live somewhere that's normal. My lawyer sent one nasty letter citing the same code and suddenly they were like "oh we made a mistake" and gave back all but $200 for a legit broken blind. These landlords know most people won't fight back, especially over a few hundred bucks. That $500 lawyer fee is basically a cheat code for getting your deposit back in CA.

hannahm396d ago

That "$500 lawyer fee cheat code" thing is so true. Once they see you've got someone who knows the law and will actually fight, they fold immediately because they know they're in the wrong.