Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

Short Pay

My commercial lease still have 5+ years to go. Original lease is 10 years.

Business is very bad and I've been short paying the landlord in the past 4 months. He didn't say or send me any letter so far. My question is can he just come and lock my door and put me out of business? Under the law does he need to give me few days notification?


Asked on 6/26/09, 12:41 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys

Bryan C. Becker Your Lawyer for Life.

Re: Short Pay

Commercial tenancies are different than residential regarding the eviction process, but you are still entitled to notice. You will first receive a 3 day notice to pay or quit. Once a three-day notice has been served and the three days pass without payment of the full amount owed, the landlord may file an unlawful detainer (i.e., eviction) complaint and seek a judgment for eviction and back rent.

However, instead of ignoring the issue, why don't you seek to re-negotiate the lease? In this economic climate, we have renegotiated numerous leases for clients. Most landlords would prefer some rent as opposed to no rent or paying an attorney to evict you.

If you are interested, feel free to contact my office.

Regards,

Bryan

877.201.8728

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Answered on 6/26/09, 1:08 pm
David Gibbs The Gibbs Law Firm, APC

Re: Short Pay

Attorney Becker is correct, however, check your lease. The three days he refers to may be different per your lease. It generally can only be longer, but again, commercial tenancies are different. Attorney Becker is correct also in that you can renegotiate the lease if the landlord is willing. There are a lot of factors to analyze, including market demand, vacancy factors, etc... Contact an experienced real estate attorney to review your situation sooner than later, as once that notice is served, you have virtually no time to get him all the past due rent, or lose the right to remain in the property. The worst part is that on default and eviction, the landlord can, except in limited circumstances, seek all of the remaining rent from you even though you have been evicted from the premises. Better to face this head-on than bury your head in the sand.

*Due to the limitations of the LawGuru Forums, The Gibbs Law Firm, APC's (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided is general and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.

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Answered on 6/26/09, 1:24 pm


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