By DANIEL WATTS

Q: My apartment complex says it’s their policy that I get my carpet cleaned by a professional carpet cleaner before I move out (I have been here for almost four years). Are they allowed to do this? What are the exact rules for apartments taking peoples deposits? Is it worth suing them in small claims court? Could I hire you or another lawyer to help me in matters like this?
— Brian B. Sacramento, CA

A: Your duty to your landlord is to restore your apartment to the same condition as it was in when you found it.

However, the law expects normal wear and tear to happen, so unless your cats shredded the floor, you shouldn’t have to replace or professionally clean your carpet. The expected lifespan of a carpet varies depending on the brand. Google the carpet’s manufacturer, call their headquarters and ask them after how many years the carpet should be replaced.

Here’s an example. Let’s say your carpet’s lifespan is eight years. After four years, your carpet should be 50 percent worthless. If the carpet had been languishing in that apartment for four years before you moved in, the carpet is now eight years old and needed replacement this year anyway. No amount of cleaning would fix it, so you shouldn’t have to pay for it.

Instead of professionally cleaning it, clean it yourself. Use a vacuum, rub out the spots (if any), or rent a steam cleaner.

Even if your cats did destroy the carpet, or your frat parties made steam-cleaning a necessity, you still have rights. Your landlord needs to give you a list of security deposit deductions. He needs to explain why he deducted money from your deposit, and then refund you the rest.

And he needs to do all this within 21 days of your move-out date.

If, on the 22nd day after leaving the apartment, you still haven’t received either a 100 percent refund or a partial refund with an explanation attached, you can sue the landlord. You’re now entitled to a triple refund, plus the cost of hiring an attorney to help you.

Yes, you can go to small claims court, but it does not hurt to check with an attorney first to see if you have a good case. Because California law forces the landlord to pay a tenant’s attorney fees if the tenant wins, some attorneys would take your case on “contingency,” which means the attorney would not get paid unless he wins.

Regular courts are slow, though. California has the largest court system in the country — more judges than the federal judiciary, even — but perennial budget crises have crushed the court system. The Sacramento County Superior Court is still processing paperwork that people filed back in November, for example.

Small claims courts are quicker, simpler — and cheaper.

It costs a few hundred dollars to get a case going in Superior Court. In small claims, it costs you only $30 to $70. In Superior Court, your landlord can hire an attorney to represent him. In small claims, no lawyers are allowed to speak for the parties — you and your landlord will argue in front of the judge yourselves.

Students who need the security deposit quickly should write a demand letter to the landlord on the 21st day after move-out. Ask for a refund. If they don’t immediately give you a refund or a written explanation why they withheld your deposit, file a lawsuit in small claims court or contact an attorney that offers a free consultation.

Q: Got a “Watts Legal” question for you. What’s up with noncompete clauses in California? I ask because I used to work in the test-prep industry, which routinely stresses that employees (California employees) can be sued for thousands of dollars if they violate the noncompete clause in their contract. Are they groundlessly intimidating their employees, or can they actually get damages if an employee works for a competitor or poaches clients under the table?
— Claire V., Oakland

A: Noncompete clauses, which restrict an employee’s ability to work for other employers in the same field, are almost always unenforceable in California.

One of the reasons Santa Clara County became known as Silicon Valley is because Californians are free to move among tech companies. Boston, which has a similarly high concentration of universities but fewer Ciscos and Adobes, is less competitive, since Massachusetts companies can enforce noncompete clauses.

Employment contracts can ban employees from sharing trade secrets or soliciting clients of their former employer, though. Apple can’t stop an employee from leaving to work for Google, but they can stop that employee from telling Google secrets about the iPhone 6.

Daniel is a Sacramento attorney, former Davis City Council candidate, and graduate of UC Davis School of Law. He’ll answer questions sent to him at governorwatts@gmail.com or tweeted to @governorwatts.

Just a peek

A professor recently referred an upperclassman to Student Judicial Affairs (SJA) for suspected copying from another student’s scantron during an upper-division science exam. One of the TAs brought the student’s strange behavior to the professor’s attention, and he subsequently proceeded to observe the student for a lengthy period of time. The student in question appeared to be looking repeatedly at the answers of a student sitting diagonally in front of her. She seemed to be flipping to the same pages at the same time, and recording answers on her exam after staring at the other exam. The professor thought it unlikely that the other student had agreed to be copied from because the two students did not know each other. When the referred student met with an SJA officer, she admitted to the cheating. However, since this was her third violation for copying during exams, she was dismissed from the University of California.

To cite or not to cite
On two separate introductory philosophy assignments, a student copied large portions of text verbatim from the course textbook and from other sources without inserting direct quotes. She also failed to properly cite her sources in accordance with a standard academic citation style, which the professor had explicitly required. The student was referred to SJA by the instructor, and during her meetings with a judicial officer she stated that she had not intended to plagiarize and did not know she needed to use direct quotes or in-text citations. However, all UC Davis students are responsible for knowing how to cite properly, and on top of that the professor had reviewed how to cite and what constitutes plagiarism with the class. The student was placed on Deferred Separation status, was required to complete 10 hours of community service and received grades of zero on the two assignments she plagiarized.

I panicked!
A TA for a lower-division chemistry class referred a first-year student to SJA for suspected altering and resubmitting of an exam for a re-grade. The student admitted to altering her exam before she resubmitted it to her TA, stating that she had done so because she panicked after realizing she had received a failing grade on the exam. Although the student altered her exam before submitting it for a re-grade with the hopes of receiving a better score, she ended up receiving a zero for the exam because of her dishonesty. She was also placed on disciplinary probation and required to complete 10 hours of community service.

The Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Mentoring Program, hosted by the Women’s Resources and Research Center (WRRC), is accepting applications to be both a mentor or a mentee for Winter and Spring Quarter.

WISE aims to bridge the gap in gender equality in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math by providing students with a supportive, gender-positive environment. The two-quarter-long program pairs mentees with mentors who help them to achieve their academic and professional goals.

To apply for the program, visit wrrc.ucdavis.edu. The center is accepting mentee applications until Monday.

— Stephanie B. Nguyen

Andrea Lunsford, English professor and Director of the Program in Writing and Rhetoric at Stanford University will visit campus Thursday to speak at the first Winter Quarter meeting of the Rhetorical Studies Cluster.

The group assembles twice a quarter to discuss rhetoric-related research from various University disciplines.

The talk, titled “Rhetoric and (Multi) Media Writing in the 21st Century,” is co-sponsored by the Center for Teaching and Learning, the English Department and the University Writing Program.
It will take place Thursday, Jan. 24 at 4:10 p.m. in the School of Education building, room 174.

For more information contact Michal Reznizki at mreznizki@ucdavis.edu or Heather Jennings at hhjennings@ucdavis.edu.

— Muna Sadek

The Ninth Annual Water Law Symposium will be held Saturday, Jan. 26 at the UC Davis School of Law and the UC Davis Conference Center from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The event, titled “Beyond the Water Wars: Collaborative Management Solutions for a Shared Resource,” will feature expert discussion of controversies surrounding California’s water law.

Topics will also address the Klamath Basin agreements, California groundwater and drinking water contamination, state water markets, groundwater overdraft and salmon restoration science, according to the event news release.

Scheduled speakers include United States Rep. John Garamendi; Frances Spivey-Weber, vice chair of the State Water Resources Control Board; Art Baggett, former chair of the State Water Resources Control Board; Harrison “Hap” Dunning, professor emeritus at the UC Davis School of Law; and Justices Gregory J. Hobbs (Colorado Supreme Court) and Ronald B. Robie (Third District California Court of Appeal).

Registration for the event has ended. It is open to a limited number of students with a current school ID. People can be added to the waitlist by emailing waterlawsymposium@gmail.com. More information can be found at www.waterlawsymposium.com.

— Muna Sadek