Where to file the case

[dumbfather]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA

My cousin needs to sue her previous landlord for frivolous charges after vacating her rental house. She wrote a letter to the guy, asking proof of expenses, regarding the fixes he said he had to do, but the landlord failed to acknowledge the receipt of the letter, let alone providing any proof. She wants to sue the landlord in small claims court but there is a catch. She is now living 100 miles away from the landlord and her old house. She faxed me the lease agreement and I don't know where the guy got this form but there is no mention of which courts are to be used in case of a dispute. Looks like someone printed this out and copied it several times. It is only 2 pages long with few hand scribbled items at the end, detailing the condition of some appliances etc. Agreement just states the address of the property, start and end dates of the lease, deposit and rent amounts along with other boilerplate items like late payments, penalties and such but nothing about dispute resolution whatsoever.

She wants to sue him at her local court, so that she doesn't have to travel 100 miles but my gut feeling tells me, this is not right and she needs to file her case in the courthouse, local to her old rental place. Both locations are in California, just in different counties.

Where should she file ?

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA

My cousin needs to sue her previous landlord for frivolous charges after vacating her rental house. She wrote a letter to the guy, asking proof of expenses, regarding the fixes he said he had to do, but the landlord failed to acknowledge the receipt of the letter, let alone providing any proof. She wants to sue the landlord in small claims court but there is a catch. She is now living 100 miles away from the landlord and her old house. She faxed me the lease agreement and I don't know where the guy got this form but there is no mention of which courts are to be used in case of a dispute. Looks like someone printed this out and copied it several times. It is only 2 pages long with few hand scribbled items at the end, detailing the condition of some appliances etc. Agreement just states the address of the property, start and end dates of the lease, deposit and rent amounts along with other boilerplate items like late payments, penalties and such but nothing about dispute resolution whatsoever.

She wants to sue him at her local court, so that she doesn't have to travel 100 miles but my gut feeling tells me, this is not right and she needs to file her case in the courthouse, local to her old rental place. Both locations are in California, just in different counties.

Where should she file ?

She should file her small claims action in the county where the cause of action arose - in other words, where the rental unit is located.

 

[dumbfather]

She should file her small claims action in the county where the cause of action arose - in other words, where the rental unit is located.

Thank you for your answer. I thought, this was the right place but didn't know, as mine was common sense, not legal knowledge. Since that day, there is another change in her case. About 10 days after the landlord sent her a check for about 1/4 of her deposit, he sent her another bill saying that there was some hardwood floor damage that needs to be fixed and he wants her to pay the bill for it, which will wipe down the check he sent and then some considerable large amount of money goes out of her pocket if she is to abide by this request. He sent her the estimate from the floor restoration company. Again according to her, there were no damages when she left the house.

She is getting ready to sue and again asked me, as if I know enough on these matters, if she needs to sue only for the amount held back from her deposit or add these new charges to the case, even though the charges have not been incurred.

In my gut feeling, she can only ask for the held back money to be returned to her. But in that case how will she refute the bill for the floor repair ?

Thanks for your answers again.

 

[quincy]

Thank you for your answer. I thought, this was the right place but didn't know, as mine was common sense, not legal knowledge. Since that day, there is another change in her case. About 10 days after the landlord sent her a check for about 1/4 of her deposit, he sent her another bill saying that there was some hardwood floor damage that needs to be fixed and he wants her to pay the bill for it, which will wipe down the check he sent and then some considerable large amount of money goes out of her pocket if she is to abide by this request. He sent her the estimate from the floor restoration company. Again according to her, there were no damages when she left the house.

She is getting ready to sue and again asked me, as if I know enough on these matters, if she needs to sue only for the amount held back from her deposit or add these new charges to the case, even though the charges have not been incurred.

In my gut feeling, she can only ask for the held back money to be returned to her. But in that case how will she refute the bill for the floor repair ?

Thanks for your answers again.

Your cousin cannot sue for damages not incurred (for what may happen in the future).

After the landlord has returned part of the security deposit, he cannot then continue to bill for additional damages. If there was damage to the floors, the costs for repair or replacement should have been deducted from the deposit and, if the costs exceeded the deposit, these additional costs should be billed. But the landlord cannot return the damage deposit, in whole or in part, and then say, "Oops, I want it back."

Your cousin is apparently having difficulty trying to figure out how to collect what she thinks was taken unfairly from her deposit money. Communicating with you and you communicating with us and you relating what we say back to her is not the best way to handle this. She might want to visit a landlord tenant clinic in her area to discuss the issues with the security deposit. In the meantime, here is a link with information she may find helpful: http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/landlordbook/sec-deposit.shtml

Good luck.