Los Angeles, CA asked in Landlord - Tenant for California

Q: My roommate and I are on a month-month. I gave 30 day notice to her on 5/17. Am I required to cover rent from 6/17-6/30?

She thinks I should cover the rest of the month even though I gave her 30 days notice that I would be out by the 7th and would pay until the 17th (so out on the 17th legally.) Her replacement tenant doesn't come until the 1st of July which doesn't seem like my problem since I gave her fair warning to find someone to move in. (She knew I was moving out since 5/10 actually. But official notice was given on the 17th.)

I feel that we should prorate my rent to the 17th and she has to cover the rest of the rent. No where in our contract does it say that I have to pay half the rent. I feel I should only pay for the days I am there. Am I wrong?

The way my landlord seems to be approaching this is with a "it's up to you two" attitude, using phrases like "mutual agreement" and the like. Which does not appear in the lease, so I wonder what law she is referencing.

Another concern: My landlord said that I am to give my roommate the 30 day notice, not the landlord. Is that right?

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1 Lawyer Answer
Louis George Fazzi
Louis George Fazzi
Answered
  • Jess Ranch, CA
  • Licensed in California

A: Last question first: yes, the landlord is right. You are not affecting the landlord's rental of the apartment to your roommate. Only your agreement with your roommate.

Did your agreement with your roommate run from the first of each month? What did you and your roommate agree to? If you agreed to split the rent month to month, beginning with a date certain (i.e. 1st of the month, or 15th or whatever), then you should have given notice 30 days prior to the rent due date and been prepared to move on that date. However, it is acceptable to prorate the rent based on the total days of the occupancy. For example, take the total amount of rent you owe for the month of your move-out and divide that by 30. Then multiply that number by 17, the number of days you would occupy the premises, and that should give you the reasonable value of your share of the rent for the time you would be present. That should be what you owe, unless the was some other fee, charge or other expense also built into the amount of rent you owed.

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