May 19th, 2025 at 2:27 pm
Multiple Choice Question: Which of the following is this landlord allowed to charge the tenant upfront before commencement of the lease? Pick the best answer:
A. $14,000 total, which will be broken down to $8,000 for the rent owed from June 21, 2025 to July 31, 2025, plus $6,000 as a security deposit.
B. $12,000 total, which will be broken down to $6,000 for the first month of rent owed from June 21, 2025 to July 20, 2025, plus $6,000 as a security deposit.
C. $12,000 total, which will be broken down to $8,000 for the rent owed from June 21, 2025 to July 31, 2025, plus $4,000 as a security deposit.
D. All of the above.
E. Both B and C.
Answer: Answer A is wrong (and so Answer D is wrong too). A landlord who collects the maximum allowed as a security deposit generally cannot collect more than one month of rent upfront. It’s true that lease terms often begin in the middle of the month, and that the parties usually want future rent payments to be owed on the first day of the month. But the law generally does not allow a landlord who is maxed out on the security deposit to charge more than the first month of rent upfront.
For more information about the maximum security deposit, please refer to the Legal Tip from last week.
Answer B is correct, but it’s not the best answer. Under the RLMM, if the commencement date is not the first day of the month, “Rent for the second calendar month shall be prorated” based on a 1/30th per diem (see paragraph 3C). So this landlord can collect $6,000 upfront for the rent from June 21, 2025 to July 20, 2025, plus a $6,000 security deposit. Then in July, the tenant will owe a prorated rent for the second calendar month (for the period from July 21, 2025 to July 31, 2025).
Answer C is correct too, so Answer E is the best answer. A landlord may earmark the security deposit, or a portion of the security deposit, as an advance payment of rent. Hence, this landlord is allowed to collect $8,000 upfront for the rent owed from June 21, 2025 to July 31, 2025. However, that means that the landlord must reduce the $6,000 maximum allowable security deposit by $2,000 accordingly.
-Thank you to Andrew Manning (Sherman Oaks Office) for suggesting this week’s legal tip!
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