Page 68 - AAGLA-APR 2022

Legal
away the dog after 2 months. Now they are asking if the pet deposit could be returned.
Answer: You do not have to account for the use of the deposit until 21 days from the date they return possession of the premises, so you don’t have to refund any of the deposit.
Question: I rented an apartment to a young man; he signed a one-year lease and paid the deposit and first month’s rent in full. He has received the keys but now he is re-questing to get out of his lease because another apartment that he prefers became available. Is there any kind of buyer’s remorse on signing a lease?
Answer: Your tenant is obligated to pay rent through the lease term or until the time the premises are relet, whichever occurs first. There is no buyer’s remorse.
Question: One of the recent applicants to our apartment community claims he is paid “un-der the table”. How do I verify his income?
Answer: You really can’t, and because he is committing fraud, you should not consid-er this a legal source of income. Iftheyfailtootherwisequalify,youcandeny his rental application.
Question: One of our tenants was recently arrested and has
not paid the rent. We served a notice by “post and mail” and it has been over three days. How do we serve the unlawful detainer (eviction) on the tenant while in jail?
Answer: Most jails will allow your process server to serve the tenant while in jail. It may take several hours before they are able to pull the inmate up, but your pro-cess server can be waiting for him or her and legally serve them while incarcer-ated.
Question: One of our residents served us with a written 30- day notice and has failed to va-cate after 30 days. Can I start the eviction process, or must I serve a 30-day notice first?
Answer: Under state law, if a residential tenant serves the landlord with a written 30-day notice and the rental term is month-to-month, the landlord may immediately file an unlawful detainer (eviction) action in court on the 31st day, providing the 30th day fell on a business day. Check with a lawyer to see if local laws apply to your case.
68 APRIL 2022 • WWW.AAGLA.ORG
Kimball, Tirey & St. John LLP is a full-service real estate law firm representing residential and commercial property owners and managers. This article is for general information purposes only. Laws may have changed since this article was published. Before acting, be sure to seek legal advice. For contact information, please visit our website. www.kts-law.com. © 2022 Kimball, Tirey and St. John LLP.