Renters' Rights in the State of California

• California recognizes both written and oral lease agreements. Hemera Technologies/AbleStock.com/Getty Images

  The California Department of Consumer Affairs advises all potential renters in the state to never rush into signing a lease and to carefully examine a rental agreement before signing it. When you understand everything you're agreeing to, you'll come across fewer problems down the road. This agency also protects and enforces renters' rights regarding discrimination, lease agreements, security deposits and termination of tenancy.

Discrimination

• According to the California Department of Consumer Affairs, "the California Legislature has declared that the opportunity to seek, obtain and hold housing without unlawful discrimination is a civil right." This means a landlord cannot refuse to rent you a rental unit based on your race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, ancestry, familial status, source of income, medical condition or mental condition. A landlord also cannot ask about your immigration or citizenship status. While a landlord doesn't have the right to deny a rental application based on familial status such as family having young children, landlords of senior citizen housing can choose to deny applications from families with children in accordance with the law.

Security Deposits

• California laws only allows a landlord to keep your security deposit for four reasons: unpaid rent; cleaning of the rental unit such as removing mildew, cleaning the oven or defrosting the refrigerator; repairs for damages caused by the tenant such as holes in the walls, stains on the carpet or broken windows; and for the price of restoring furnishing, keys or other personal property --- but only if both the tenant and landlord agreed to this condition in the lease. Your security deposit cannot be applied to repairing damages that existed before you moved in or to defects caused by normal wear and tear such as scuffed floors or worn-out keys. However, the law does not give an exact definition of "normal wear and tear" and this term can mean different things to different people. California Civil Code 1950.5 states that a valid lease or rental agreement can never include a nonrefundable security deposit.

Termination

• If you have a month-to-month tenancy --- the most common type of rental agreement in the state --- the landlord can lawfully evict you with as little as three days' notice if you have: not paid your rent; broken any part of your rental agreement; damaged the rental property; harassed other tenants; engaged in domestic violence, sexual assault against another tenant or stalked another tenant; used the rental unit for illegal activities such as dealing or manufacturing drugs; or displayed unlawful behavior involving a weapon or ammunition. However, if your written three-day notice is based on something you can remedy such as paying unpaid rent or getting rid of a pet when the rental agreement doesn't allow pets, the landlord must give you the opportunity to correct the violation before eviction.