Evicting a Commercial Tenant in California
In landlord / tenant law, the owner of a piece of property is called a "landlord," and the renter is called a "tenant.' For private residents, there are special laws in place that protect the rights of tenants. For example, private residents have the right of quiet enjoyment, without the tenant always poking around and bothering the resident. Residents also have the right to a clean, safe, and healthful place in which to live.
Commercial tenants are businesses that rent their property space, like a store or office, from a commercial landlord. Businesses are presumed to be sophisticated, knowledgeable, and savvy about the law. Therefore, business tenants are not afforded as much protection by state statutes. It is very much caveat emptor, or "buyer beware," in an alabaster jungle.
Because there is not much statutory protection for commercial tenants, the subject of eviction of a commercial tenant is very much an issue of contract law. Evictions usually happen because the tenant cannot pay rent, but it may occur because of the landlord's dissatisfaction of the use of the property. The issue is often which party breached the contract.
In California, a commercial tenant can be evicted for failing to pay a demanded amount up to 20% in excess of the rent. Businesses only have three days after being informed of the eviction to correct the violation. There is no warranty of habitability: if the roof leaks or the heater quits, it is the commercial tenant's problem. There is no statutory right to repair and deduct.
Most of the protections afforded to residential tenants do not apply to commercial tenants. When a commercial tenant is evicted, the landlord is only required to provide the tenant with three days of notice, during which time the tenant can correct the problem (such as failure to pay rent) that warrants eviction. If the tenant fails to remedy the situation, the landlord can serve them with a notice of unlawful detainer (an eviction notice), and should allow the tenant five days to leave. If the tenant fails to leave, the landlord can go to court to force them to leave. If this happens, the landlord is free to place a lock on the door, preventing the tenant from accessing the property.
At this point, the tenant only has 15 days to collect any of their possessions which they have left at the rental property. If this 15-day period passes, the landlord can mail the tenant a “notice of belief of abandonment,” which informs the tenant that the landlord now assumes that any of the tenant’s possessions remaining on the premises have been abandoned. At this point, the tenant has another 18 days to claim the property. At this point, the property may be sold by the landlord.
California commercial tenants must remember that all protections and rights should be spelled out expressly in the rental contract. The law assumes that anything not in the contract was not meant to be there.
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Last Modified: 12-30-2011 11:07 AM PST
