Would property management be entitled to entire holding deposit in California upon retracting intent to move?
My wife and I signed a document stating the $300 deposit would be applied to the Security Deposit upon approval, and would be considered ‘non-refundable’. We did not sign a lease after receiving approval late on a Monday, and we then informed them we are no longer interested on a Wednesday afternoon, at which point they stated we would receive no portion of the deposit back. California Civil Code Section 1950.5 – According to this state law: There is no such thing as a “nonrefundable” security deposit. No matter what it’s called all money you pay in addition to your first month’s rent is refundable. The document we signed did not contain verbiage for ‘reasonable daily market value’, and I feel they should list reasonable costs for deductions. The good thing is, this was made out by check and I put stop payment on it, but I want to know how things would stack up if they decide to go to small claims. I honestly feel that 3 business days reasonable to allow rescinding w/o penalty. Let’s s
