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Serious question, did I just void my lease by accident?
Honestly, I was cleaning out my apartment in San Jose last weekend and I decided to repaint a small patch in the living room where a poster peeled off the paint. I thought no big deal, just match the color from the can the landlord left. But the old paint was like a 2015 beige and the new paint I grabbed from Home Depot was a 2024 warm ivory. Now the patch glows like a different wall entirely. My neighbor who works in property management told me that any paint job beyond nail holes can be considered unauthorized alterations under California Civil Code section 1940.5. I never even thought about that. Now I'm worried my landlord will keep my $2,100 security deposit over this. Has anyone else gotten dinged for something this small on a move-out inspection?
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jesse_williams6213d ago
Wait, are you actually worried about this? lol. A patch of paint that's slightly off shade isn't going to void your lease or cost you your whole deposit. If your landlord tried to hit you with that California code stuff over a paint patch, a judge would probably laugh them out of small claims court. You might lose a few bucks if they have to repaint the whole wall, but that's like a $50 max thing, not your full $2,100. Honestly, as long as you didn't rip the drywall off or set something on fire, you're probably fine.
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jamesm3813d ago
Yeah I feel you on this but I get why people stress about it. Landlords can be really petty sometimes and it sucks always wondering if they're gonna find something to nitpick. It's like you know you're probably fine but that doubt still creeps in.
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