Names and identifying details of every student here are changed, as they are everywhere on the blog.
Vika arrived in the spring and spent the summer in a sublet with somebody else’s furniture. In September she found an apartment she liked, and the leasing office asked her for three months up front, because she has no credit history here. Three months. She came to me with the number still open on her phone and asked whether that is normal.
It is not, and in California it is not even legal, and that is where we started.
Deposits, and the ceiling on them
From July 2024 the cap in California is one month’s rent, full stop, and it makes no difference whether the place comes furnished. That is state law, and it replaced the old two-month and three-month rules that half the internet still repeats.
There is one exception, and it is narrow. A small landlord, meaning a person, or an LLC made of people, who owns no more than two rental properties with no more than four units between them, may take up to two months. A management company with a leasing office is not that. For active duty military the limit is one month no matter who the owner is.
One month’s rent. Anything beyond that, whatever it is called, is money the law says the landlord cannot demand.
Labels change nothing here. Call it a pet deposit, a cleaning deposit, a key deposit, last month’s rent paid ahead, and it still lands inside that same one month, because what counts is what the money is doing, not the word printed next to it. A deposit also cannot be made non-refundable, not by wording, not by initials at the bottom of a page.
Charges they can and cannot make
A screening fee is separate and legitimate. In 2026 the California ceiling is $65.86 per applicant, and it is a ceiling rather than a price, because the landlord may only charge what the screening actually costs. If the report costs $38, the fee is $38.
Three more things the same law says. You get an itemized receipt. The unused part comes back. And nobody may charge you at all if there is no unit available and none coming.
Cities add their own rules on top, so the number where you live may be different from the state one, and the leasing office should be able to say which applies.
Credit check, and the part that hurts
This is where new arrivals lose, and it is not personal. A credit report on somebody who has been in the country five months is almost empty, and empty is not the same as bad, but the software does not care.
What works instead, in the order I have watched it work. Proof of income, pay stubs or an offer letter, ideally showing income around three times the rent. Bank statements. A co-signer with local credit, usually a relative or a friend’s husband who owes somebody a favor. A larger first payment, which is fine only within that one month limit. And a reusable screening report, which California law now provides for. A landlord decides whether to accept one, so ask at the office.
History from back home does not work. It does not transfer, and no amount of explaining changes that.
Co-signing is not a formality either, and somebody should say that out loud. The person who signs is on the hook for the rent if you stop paying, the whole rent, not half of it, and a missed month lands on their credit and not only on yours. Ask anyway if you need to, but ask knowing what you are asking for.
Fees that appear at signing
Deposit and screening are the two with rules. The rest are business decisions, and they are where the surprise lives.
Administration or move-in fee, charged by many management companies, which is not a deposit and does not come back. Pet rent, monthly, on top of any pet deposit. Parking, sometimes per space per month. Renter’s insurance, usually required, usually $15 or $20 a month. Utilities billed back to you by formula rather than by meter. A key or fob replacement price that nobody mentions until you lose one.
None of that is illegal. All of it belongs in your arithmetic before you sign, because a $2,400 apartment with $200 of monthly extras is a $2,600 apartment.
Questions to ask before you sign
- What is the total due at move-in, broken down line by line.
- Which of those lines are refundable and which are not.
- Is there an administration or move-in fee, and how much.
- What does the screening fee cover, and can I have the itemized receipt.
- Do you accept a reusable screening report, and if you do, what do you need from me.
- What is the monthly total with parking, pet rent, insurance and utilities.
- How are utilities billed, by meter or by formula.
- What is the late fee, and after how many days.
- Who pays for what repairs, and how do I submit a request.
- What is the policy on subletting and on guests staying long term.
- What do I need to do to get the full deposit back at the end.
Photograph everything on the first day
Before the boxes come in, walk the empty apartment with your phone and film all of it, slowly, with the lights on. Every scratch on the floor, the burn on the counter, the closet door that does not close, the stain in the bathtub. Write the same list on paper, give a copy to the office, keep a copy yourself.
20 minutes, and it is the argument that works a year later, when somebody decides that the mark by the door is new. Almost nobody does it. Everybody who has lost a deposit wishes they had.
At the end of the lease
Deposits come back with an itemized statement within 21 days of moving out, and deductions have to be real damage, not ordinary wear. If a landlord keeps it in bad faith, the law allows a court to award up to twice the deposit on top of returning it.
My first apartment here, I assumed the deposit was gone. Everybody I knew assumed that. Nobody told me it comes with a deadline and a piece of paper, and when I finally learned that, I had already moved twice.
How it went for Vika
She asked for the breakdown in writing. The three months turned into one month plus the first month’s rent, which is what it should have been all along, and the leasing agent did not argue for a second, which tells you they knew.
With it came a receipt for the screening fee. It was $41.
Courses at Palme School
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Things to print and do at the kitchen table
Frequently asked questions
Since July 1, 2024, no more than one month's rent, whether the unit is furnished or not. A narrow exception lets a small landlord, a person or an LLC of people owning no more than two rental properties with no more than four units total, take up to two months. For active duty service members the limit is one month.
Yes. Money held against the tenant's obligations counts as security regardless of its label, including pet deposits, cleaning deposits, key deposits and last month's rent paid in advance, and a deposit cannot be labeled non-refundable.
In 2026 the California cap is $65.86 per applicant, and the fee may not exceed the landlord's actual out-of-pocket screening costs. Applicants are entitled to an itemized receipt and a refund of any unused portion, and a fee cannot be charged when no unit is available. Some cities set their own rules.
Proof of income such as pay stubs or an offer letter, bank statements, and a co-signer with local credit are the usual routes. California also provides for reusable screening reports, which an applicant may offer, though landlords are not required to accept them.
Within 21 days of moving out, together with an itemized statement of any deductions. Deductions cannot be for ordinary wear and tear, and if a landlord withholds a deposit in bad faith, a court may award up to twice the amount in addition to the deposit.
Palme School: Russian for bilingual children · School of reading · Free materials for families
Monica Perez is from Rosario, Argentina. These days she does nails in Los Angeles, and her regulars are mostly Russian-speaking, which is how these stories reach her before they reach anybody else.
