30 Day Notice to Vacate

I've lived in 7 cities in 3 countries and have never had issues with landlords until Los Angeles.

I heard of horror stories so I was a bit more prepared when filing my 30 days notice to vacate.  I'm not a lawyer but I felt like all the information out there was too hard to understand or that there wasn't enough information.

Here are some of my learnings.

Read your Lease.  If you are month to month, CA allows you to pro-rate the days.

Ex. If you give notice on September the 6th, you need to give at least 30 days notice from that day.

Any other state, even if you give noticed on September 1st, you are expected to pay the full month of October.

I emailed my 30 day notice to vacate.  Give the manager permission to show the place asap and a forwarding address for them to contact you at.  My manager called the landlord.  I also mailed a letter to the P.O. Box Address where I mail the check.

You can send it certified or drop it off in person so they can't say that they didn't receive it.

Do a walk thru together early so that you know if you need to fix anything.

Cleaning tips:

1. The Mr Clean Magic Eraser is amazing!  Gets all the scuffs from the walls and the dark marks from dry cleaner metal hangers from the clothing rods.

2. A bit of Comet cleans super well.  I lived in an old complex so they had restrictions on what you can use on the tub finishing.

3. Don't forget the fan and blinds.

4. You can always rent a machine from the pharmacy or Walmart to steam clean the carpets.

*If the lease says they will charge a cleaning fee anyway, then you may not need to go through all the above.

Take a picture of your walk thru papers.  I never got my copy in the mail and the landlord altered it 6 months after I moved out to charge me with 2 cleaning fees.

Take photos of the place with the date stamp.

Take a video of the place and include the date by newspaper or phone.  Show that everything is working from the faucets, toilets, fans, kitchen etc.

Make copies of all communication that you have from screen shots of your text messages, emails, letters to the management.

Indicate on  your final check - the date you gave notice, final check, and forwarding address under the Notes area or under your name.  Make copies if you don't have a carbon copy.
*My landlord crossed off all that information but I had the bank copy that she crossed all that information out.  She was denying any idea that I was moving out.