I can’t speak specifically to CA laws… but I was in a similar situation in PA. It was a large complex and the rental agent told me verbally some terms that differed from the lease.

I saw an attorney and he said it could go either way in court. I had a lot of evidence that showed I’d have never rented the place without the verbal terms suggesting I could break the lease if I bought a house – they had the signed the lease.

I ended up negotiating a settlement… I let them have the security deposit (1 months rent) even though I gave 60 day notice and left it spotless, as well as one additional months rent. They had originally demanded the 5 months remaining on the lease.

The legal department of the complex admitted that the rental agent had probably offered me verbal terms – but that didn’t matter. Very frustrating.