Legal Eaze #2 Caretakers/Security Deposit

Originally Printed: July 7, 2004

Maxine de Villefranche is an attorney and civil general practitioner with 12 years of experience. She will answer legal questions posed to her by the readers, to the best of her abilities.
Q. My husband and I are grandparents to a wonderful your boy, age 5. Unfortunately my son, the boy’s father, is in prison and the boy’s mother is a drug addict, in and out of detoxification clinics. We have been the sole caretakers of our grandson for the last two years and we need make this arrangement “official”. What is the best way to proceed?
A. You need to file an Application for “Guardianship” with the Superior Court (of his person and his estate, if any). The court needs to sanction your becoming the child’s guardians in order to allow you to make vital decisions about the child’s welfare. An investigation will be ordered and conducted by a professional appointed by the court to ensure the child is in good hands. Once the investigation is finalized and a report provided to the court, and you have satisfied the court’s need to ensure the child’s safety and best interest, you will become the child’s guardians, and you will step “into the shoes” of his parents.
Q. When I rented the house I lived in for the past eight years, I gave a $500 security deposit to the landlord. I got married last month and I moved out of the house. The landlord refused to return my deposit. What should I do in order to get that money back?
A. A security deposit is a landlord’s best guarantee against risks of rent non-payment and damages to the premises. Unless you failed to pay your rent, and/or caused damage to the house, a security deposit must be refunded. The landlord is also entitled to deduct from the deposit any cleaning costs upon termination of your tenancy. Within three weeks of the tenancy termination, the landlord must do the following: 1) Provide you with a written security deposit accounting, i.e. account for all expenses deducted from the deposit, and 2) Refund the balance. If the landlord has not provided you with an accounting within three weeks of the date you moved out, he/she must return the entire security deposit. I suggest you sue the landlord for the return of your deposit in Small Claims Court, which is the least expensive way to proceed. You can add the suit cost to your damages.
Forward your questions by e-mail to maxinedev@msn.com or drop questions at the Tehachapi News, 411 N. Mill St., Tehachapi, or send them by mail to P.O. Box 1840, Tehachapi, CA 93581