[eavesdropper]

Like UCGal, I am not familiar with recent CA laws. However, when I was living in central CA back in the mid-80s, I went through a situation similar to yours (job transfer), and the landlord demanded all of the rent owed on the balance of the lease. We were fortunate: my husband’s employer paid all of the remaining 10 months rent, without question. However, the landlord, even though he was being a shit, was on sound legal ground based on the written and signed lease. A written lease will almost always trump undocumented verbal agreements.

Also similar to UCGal’s experience, I had a lease dispute in Pennsylvania in the late 90s. I was able to break my lease, without notice, because of a loophole a mile wide that the landlord had missed (I left the apartment because it had flooded badly three times within a three-week period; the lease stated that I could leave at my convenience, without notice, if the premises became inhabitable). Despite the fact that he did not have a legal leg on which to stand, and would almost certainly have had a judgement against him of double the amount of the deposit, he made me take him to court for the deposit. On the morning, and at the location, of the hearing, his lawyer settled out of court, giving me a check in the amount of my deposit.

So while it is possible that your landlord is stringing you along, hoping that you won’t call his bluff and go after him in court (like mine obviously did), the likelihood is that he realizes that the law favors him in this situation. You can decide if you want to take a chance in court, but depending upon the laws in your area, you may end up paying his court costs and additional penalties if you lose your case. It’s probably worth contacting your local Fair Housing agency to see if you have any recourse, but unless things are clearly stacked in your favor, I’d chalk it up to (bad) experience, and concentrate on enjoying your new home.

Would you feel comfortable asking your employer to cover part, or all, of the deposit? If that’s not feasible, you might want to check into whether it will be deductible on your income tax return (job-related moving expenses). With the mortgage interest you’ll be able to deduct this year, and a possible homebuyer credit, you have the potential for a sizeable refund.

[eavesdropper]

Like UCGal, I am not familiar with recent CA laws. However, when I was living in central CA back in the mid-80s, I went through a situation similar to yours (job transfer), and the landlord demanded all of the rent owed on the balance of the lease. We were fortunate: my husband’s employer paid all of the remaining 10 months rent, without question. However, the landlord, even though he was being a shit, was on sound legal ground based on the written and signed lease. A written lease will almost always trump undocumented verbal agreements.

Also similar to UCGal’s experience, I had a lease dispute in Pennsylvania in the late 90s. I was able to break my lease, without notice, because of a loophole a mile wide that the landlord had missed (I left the apartment because it had flooded badly three times within a three-week period; the lease stated that I could leave at my convenience, without notice, if the premises became inhabitable). Despite the fact that he did not have a legal leg on which to stand, and would almost certainly have had a judgement against him of double the amount of the deposit, he made me take him to court for the deposit. On the morning, and at the location, of the hearing, his lawyer settled out of court, giving me a check in the amount of my deposit.

So while it is possible that your landlord is stringing you along, hoping that you won’t call his bluff and go after him in court (like mine obviously did), the likelihood is that he realizes that the law favors him in this situation. You can decide if you want to take a chance in court, but depending upon the laws in your area, you may end up paying his court costs and additional penalties if you lose your case. It’s probably worth contacting your local Fair Housing agency to see if you have any recourse, but unless things are clearly stacked in your favor, I’d chalk it up to (bad) experience, and concentrate on enjoying your new home.

Would you feel comfortable asking your employer to cover part, or all, of the deposit? If that’s not feasible, you might want to check into whether it will be deductible on your income tax return (job-related moving expenses). With the mortgage interest you’ll be able to deduct this year, and a possible homebuyer credit, you have the potential for a sizeable refund.

[eavesdropper]

[quote=Allan from Fallbrook] You see some of that same foaming at the mouth Nativist/fascist nonsense in the more rabid elements of the Tea Party movement and it unfortunately taints the wider pool of those who are genuinely concerned (for good reason) about the state of affairs in this country and want a change.

Palin is simply doing and saying whatever she has to in order to make a buck, as evidenced by the six figure fee she commanded for her speech at the Nashville Tea Party soiree. Pathetically, her more perfervid minions believe she really means what she says, or that she even has a clue. This is government by talk radio, with Palin, Beck and Limbaugh at the helm.[/quote]

Allan, *love* that word “perfervid”. My vocabulary has been ratcheted up a notch since I started following this blog.

I don’t know that I completely agree with you on Ms. Palin’s words and actions of late. I think that, foremost, she gets off on the response she gets from her followers, and she’s essentially spouting the same vitriol today that she was in the beginning of her political career. The unquestioning devotion from her fans has convinced her that she’s the Second Coming, so she just keeps repeating the same lines, with a steady dialing up of the heat. There’s no question that she’s out for as much money as she can get, but I believe that money is second to the blind worship she’s enjoying.

My biggest problem with Ms. Palin is not her lack of knowledge, but the fact that she appears to be totally deficient in intellectual curiosity. She won’t acknowledge that there is anything, much less many, many things, that she should know but doesn’t. And she just doesn’t give a damn. After all, she’s expressed that she believes she has a sacred calling to this mission. Who needs brains when you have God guiding your every move?

There are many women in the current political spectrum who are true conservatives, but are educated, experienced, and who are well-versed in the concept of critical thinking. The one thing that we don’t need are leaders with no working brain cells who shoot from the hip and talk tough.

You’re right, Allan: it IS government by talk radio. With the full endorsement of the American people. And, unfortunately, this wingnut rhetoric does taint the efforts of organizations who represent valid concerns. However, when leaders and organizations, on all sides, use vitriolic events and writings as endorsements for their views, or against the views of others, they are playing a dangerous game. Their original message becomes lost, and in the subsequent increase in the intensity of the fighting, our unity as citizens of one nation is seriously threatened.

[eavesdropper]

[quote=Allan from Fallbrook] You see some of that same foaming at the mouth Nativist/fascist nonsense in the more rabid elements of the Tea Party movement and it unfortunately taints the wider pool of those who are genuinely concerned (for good reason) about the state of affairs in this country and want a change.

Palin is simply doing and saying whatever she has to in order to make a buck, as evidenced by the six figure fee she commanded for her speech at the Nashville Tea Party soiree. Pathetically, her more perfervid minions believe she really means what she says, or that she even has a clue. This is government by talk radio, with Palin, Beck and Limbaugh at the helm.[/quote]

Allan, *love* that word “perfervid”. My vocabulary has been ratcheted up a notch since I started following this blog.

I don’t know that I completely agree with you on Ms. Palin’s words and actions of late. I think that, foremost, she gets off on the response she gets from her followers, and she’s essentially spouting the same vitriol today that she was in the beginning of her political career. The unquestioning devotion from her fans has convinced her that she’s the Second Coming, so she just keeps repeating the same lines, with a steady dialing up of the heat. There’s no question that she’s out for as much money as she can get, but I believe that money is second to the blind worship she’s enjoying.

My biggest problem with Ms. Palin is not her lack of knowledge, but the fact that she appears to be totally deficient in intellectual curiosity. She won’t acknowledge that there is anything, much less many, many things, that she should know but doesn’t. And she just doesn’t give a damn. After all, she’s expressed that she believes she has a sacred calling to this mission. Who needs brains when you have God guiding your every move?

There are many women in the current political spectrum who are true conservatives, but are educated, experienced, and who are well-versed in the concept of critical thinking. The one thing that we don’t need are leaders with no working brain cells who shoot from the hip and talk tough.

You’re right, Allan: it IS government by talk radio. With the full endorsement of the American people. And, unfortunately, this wingnut rhetoric does taint the efforts of organizations who represent valid concerns. However, when leaders and organizations, on all sides, use vitriolic events and writings as endorsements for their views, or against the views of others, they are playing a dangerous game. Their original message becomes lost, and in the subsequent increase in the intensity of the fighting, our unity as citizens of one nation is seriously threatened.

[eavesdropper]

[quote=Allan from Fallbrook] You see some of that same foaming at the mouth Nativist/fascist nonsense in the more rabid elements of the Tea Party movement and it unfortunately taints the wider pool of those who are genuinely concerned (for good reason) about the state of affairs in this country and want a change.

Palin is simply doing and saying whatever she has to in order to make a buck, as evidenced by the six figure fee she commanded for her speech at the Nashville Tea Party soiree. Pathetically, her more perfervid minions believe she really means what she says, or that she even has a clue. This is government by talk radio, with Palin, Beck and Limbaugh at the helm.[/quote]

Allan, *love* that word “perfervid”. My vocabulary has been ratcheted up a notch since I started following this blog.

I don’t know that I completely agree with you on Ms. Palin’s words and actions of late. I think that, foremost, she gets off on the response she gets from her followers, and she’s essentially spouting the same vitriol today that she was in the beginning of her political career. The unquestioning devotion from her fans has convinced her that she’s the Second Coming, so she just keeps repeating the same lines, with a steady dialing up of the heat. There’s no question that she’s out for as much money as she can get, but I believe that money is second to the blind worship she’s enjoying.

My biggest problem with Ms. Palin is not her lack of knowledge, but the fact that she appears to be totally deficient in intellectual curiosity. She won’t acknowledge that there is anything, much less many, many things, that she should know but doesn’t. And she just doesn’t give a damn. After all, she’s expressed that she believes she has a sacred calling to this mission. Who needs brains when you have God guiding your every move?

There are many women in the current political spectrum who are true conservatives, but are educated, experienced, and who are well-versed in the concept of critical thinking. The one thing that we don’t need are leaders with no working brain cells who shoot from the hip and talk tough.

You’re right, Allan: it IS government by talk radio. With the full endorsement of the American people. And, unfortunately, this wingnut rhetoric does taint the efforts of organizations who represent valid concerns. However, when leaders and organizations, on all sides, use vitriolic events and writings as endorsements for their views, or against the views of others, they are playing a dangerous game. Their original message becomes lost, and in the subsequent increase in the intensity of the fighting, our unity as citizens of one nation is seriously threatened.

[eavesdropper]

[quote=Allan from Fallbrook] You see some of that same foaming at the mouth Nativist/fascist nonsense in the more rabid elements of the Tea Party movement and it unfortunately taints the wider pool of those who are genuinely concerned (for good reason) about the state of affairs in this country and want a change.

Palin is simply doing and saying whatever she has to in order to make a buck, as evidenced by the six figure fee she commanded for her speech at the Nashville Tea Party soiree. Pathetically, her more perfervid minions believe she really means what she says, or that she even has a clue. This is government by talk radio, with Palin, Beck and Limbaugh at the helm.[/quote]

Allan, *love* that word “perfervid”. My vocabulary has been ratcheted up a notch since I started following this blog.

I don’t know that I completely agree with you on Ms. Palin’s words and actions of late. I think that, foremost, she gets off on the response she gets from her followers, and she’s essentially spouting the same vitriol today that she was in the beginning of her political career. The unquestioning devotion from her fans has convinced her that she’s the Second Coming, so she just keeps repeating the same lines, with a steady dialing up of the heat. There’s no question that she’s out for as much money as she can get, but I believe that money is second to the blind worship she’s enjoying.

My biggest problem with Ms. Palin is not her lack of knowledge, but the fact that she appears to be totally deficient in intellectual curiosity. She won’t acknowledge that there is anything, much less many, many things, that she should know but doesn’t. And she just doesn’t give a damn. After all, she’s expressed that she believes she has a sacred calling to this mission. Who needs brains when you have God guiding your every move?

There are many women in the current political spectrum who are true conservatives, but are educated, experienced, and who are well-versed in the concept of critical thinking. The one thing that we don’t need are leaders with no working brain cells who shoot from the hip and talk tough.

You’re right, Allan: it IS government by talk radio. With the full endorsement of the American people. And, unfortunately, this wingnut rhetoric does taint the efforts of organizations who represent valid concerns. However, when leaders and organizations, on all sides, use vitriolic events and writings as endorsements for their views, or against the views of others, they are playing a dangerous game. Their original message becomes lost, and in the subsequent increase in the intensity of the fighting, our unity as citizens of one nation is seriously threatened.

[eavesdropper]

[quote=Allan from Fallbrook] You see some of that same foaming at the mouth Nativist/fascist nonsense in the more rabid elements of the Tea Party movement and it unfortunately taints the wider pool of those who are genuinely concerned (for good reason) about the state of affairs in this country and want a change.

Palin is simply doing and saying whatever she has to in order to make a buck, as evidenced by the six figure fee she commanded for her speech at the Nashville Tea Party soiree. Pathetically, her more perfervid minions believe she really means what she says, or that she even has a clue. This is government by talk radio, with Palin, Beck and Limbaugh at the helm.[/quote]

Allan, *love* that word “perfervid”. My vocabulary has been ratcheted up a notch since I started following this blog.

I don’t know that I completely agree with you on Ms. Palin’s words and actions of late. I think that, foremost, she gets off on the response she gets from her followers, and she’s essentially spouting the same vitriol today that she was in the beginning of her political career. The unquestioning devotion from her fans has convinced her that she’s the Second Coming, so she just keeps repeating the same lines, with a steady dialing up of the heat. There’s no question that she’s out for as much money as she can get, but I believe that money is second to the blind worship she’s enjoying.

My biggest problem with Ms. Palin is not her lack of knowledge, but the fact that she appears to be totally deficient in intellectual curiosity. She won’t acknowledge that there is anything, much less many, many things, that she should know but doesn’t. And she just doesn’t give a damn. After all, she’s expressed that she believes she has a sacred calling to this mission. Who needs brains when you have God guiding your every move?

There are many women in the current political spectrum who are true conservatives, but are educated, experienced, and who are well-versed in the concept of critical thinking. The one thing that we don’t need are leaders with no working brain cells who shoot from the hip and talk tough.

You’re right, Allan: it IS government by talk radio. With the full endorsement of the American people. And, unfortunately, this wingnut rhetoric does taint the efforts of organizations who represent valid concerns. However, when leaders and organizations, on all sides, use vitriolic events and writings as endorsements for their views, or against the views of others, they are playing a dangerous game. Their original message becomes lost, and in the subsequent increase in the intensity of the fighting, our unity as citizens of one nation is seriously threatened.

[eavesdropper]

[quote=UCGal]
The balance we found is that we do “big” parties on the birthdays divisible by 5. We always have a family birthday party separate. Since my oldest is turning 10 this year I better figure out where I’m going to have it.[/quote]

I like this idea, UCGal. Bet it makes it a more special occasion for the birthday kid, too. That’s the way it was for most of my friends when I was a kid.

Of course, these days we parents have party-planning assistance courtesy of MTV’s “My Super-Sweet Sixteen”. Gawd! It makes me long for the days of good taste and refinement with Robin Leach and “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” – relatively speaking, of course.

[eavesdropper]

[quote=UCGal]
The balance we found is that we do “big” parties on the birthdays divisible by 5. We always have a family birthday party separate. Since my oldest is turning 10 this year I better figure out where I’m going to have it.[/quote]

I like this idea, UCGal. Bet it makes it a more special occasion for the birthday kid, too. That’s the way it was for most of my friends when I was a kid.

Of course, these days we parents have party-planning assistance courtesy of MTV’s “My Super-Sweet Sixteen”. Gawd! It makes me long for the days of good taste and refinement with Robin Leach and “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” – relatively speaking, of course.

[eavesdropper]

[quote=UCGal]
The balance we found is that we do “big” parties on the birthdays divisible by 5. We always have a family birthday party separate. Since my oldest is turning 10 this year I better figure out where I’m going to have it.[/quote]

I like this idea, UCGal. Bet it makes it a more special occasion for the birthday kid, too. That’s the way it was for most of my friends when I was a kid.

Of course, these days we parents have party-planning assistance courtesy of MTV’s “My Super-Sweet Sixteen”. Gawd! It makes me long for the days of good taste and refinement with Robin Leach and “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” – relatively speaking, of course.

[eavesdropper]

[quote=UCGal]
The balance we found is that we do “big” parties on the birthdays divisible by 5. We always have a family birthday party separate. Since my oldest is turning 10 this year I better figure out where I’m going to have it.[/quote]

I like this idea, UCGal. Bet it makes it a more special occasion for the birthday kid, too. That’s the way it was for most of my friends when I was a kid.

Of course, these days we parents have party-planning assistance courtesy of MTV’s “My Super-Sweet Sixteen”. Gawd! It makes me long for the days of good taste and refinement with Robin Leach and “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” – relatively speaking, of course.

[eavesdropper]

[quote=UCGal]
The balance we found is that we do “big” parties on the birthdays divisible by 5. We always have a family birthday party separate. Since my oldest is turning 10 this year I better figure out where I’m going to have it.[/quote]

I like this idea, UCGal. Bet it makes it a more special occasion for the birthday kid, too. That’s the way it was for most of my friends when I was a kid.

Of course, these days we parents have party-planning assistance courtesy of MTV’s “My Super-Sweet Sixteen”. Gawd! It makes me long for the days of good taste and refinement with Robin Leach and “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” – relatively speaking, of course.

[eavesdropper]

[quote=flu][quote=UCGal].

It’s not a prerequisite, but I’m one of those parents that prefer offsite…Namely

1)Cleaning up or own place afterwards is a total pain.

2)Liability. If I rent a jumper for instance, and some kid slips and hits his head on the ground…. Close friends this isn’t an issue. Some not so close friends (like a classmate’s parent, different story). Most of those offsite places make parents sign a liability waver.

3)I live in a stucco box with very little yard in back.

4)I have white/beige carpets.[/quote]

Sorry, I screwed up on my previous post….

Flu, I heartily concur with your viewpoint on offsite parties, especially reasons #1 and #4.

Back in the late ’80s, I had my house on the market, and there was quite a bit of interest in it. Not wanting to disappoint my child on his birthday, I told my realtor to suspend visits that afternoon so we could have his party. Right before the party was scheduled to begin, I received a call from my realtor, and we set up a walk-through for an hour after the party’s end.

Sure enough, a few parents neglected to pick up their children on time, and one of the poor critters (kids, not parents) got sick and released about 3 quarts of fuschia-colored vomitus all over my front walk less than ten minutes before the prospective buyers were set to appear. Fortunately, since it was outside, we could hose it down, but the experience served to make me a true believer in offsite birthday festivities.

[eavesdropper]

[quote=flu][quote=UCGal].

It’s not a prerequisite, but I’m one of those parents that prefer offsite…Namely

1)Cleaning up or own place afterwards is a total pain.

2)Liability. If I rent a jumper for instance, and some kid slips and hits his head on the ground…. Close friends this isn’t an issue. Some not so close friends (like a classmate’s parent, different story). Most of those offsite places make parents sign a liability waver.

3)I live in a stucco box with very little yard in back.

4)I have white/beige carpets.[/quote]

Sorry, I screwed up on my previous post….

Flu, I heartily concur with your viewpoint on offsite parties, especially reasons #1 and #4.

Back in the late ’80s, I had my house on the market, and there was quite a bit of interest in it. Not wanting to disappoint my child on his birthday, I told my realtor to suspend visits that afternoon so we could have his party. Right before the party was scheduled to begin, I received a call from my realtor, and we set up a walk-through for an hour after the party’s end.

Sure enough, a few parents neglected to pick up their children on time, and one of the poor critters (kids, not parents) got sick and released about 3 quarts of fuschia-colored vomitus all over my front walk less than ten minutes before the prospective buyers were set to appear. Fortunately, since it was outside, we could hose it down, but the experience served to make me a true believer in offsite birthday festivities.

[eavesdropper]

[quote=flu][quote=UCGal].

It’s not a prerequisite, but I’m one of those parents that prefer offsite…Namely

1)Cleaning up or own place afterwards is a total pain.

2)Liability. If I rent a jumper for instance, and some kid slips and hits his head on the ground…. Close friends this isn’t an issue. Some not so close friends (like a classmate’s parent, different story). Most of those offsite places make parents sign a liability waver.

3)I live in a stucco box with very little yard in back.

4)I have white/beige carpets.[/quote]

Sorry, I screwed up on my previous post….

Flu, I heartily concur with your viewpoint on offsite parties, especially reasons #1 and #4.

Back in the late ’80s, I had my house on the market, and there was quite a bit of interest in it. Not wanting to disappoint my child on his birthday, I told my realtor to suspend visits that afternoon so we could have his party. Right before the party was scheduled to begin, I received a call from my realtor, and we set up a walk-through for an hour after the party’s end.

Sure enough, a few parents neglected to pick up their children on time, and one of the poor critters (kids, not parents) got sick and released about 3 quarts of fuschia-colored vomitus all over my front walk less than ten minutes before the prospective buyers were set to appear. Fortunately, since it was outside, we could hose it down, but the experience served to make me a true believer in offsite birthday festivities.

[Author]

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