The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an unprecedented time of uncertainty, especially in terms of housing contracts. Unemployment rates have sky-rocketed, universities are moving their classes online and encouraging students to learn from home, and housing contracts are in the spotlight unlike ever before. In some states, including California, a moratorium on evictions has been […]
No Motion To Quash Permitted By Tenant Served With A Three Day Notice To Quit.
The issue is whether the tenant in an unlawful detainer action may bring a motion to quash service of the summons on the ground that the landlord did not properly serve the three-day notice to pay rent or quit required under the Unlawful Detainer Act. [Civ.Proc. §§ 1159-1179a.]
No Landlord Liability For Unknown Dangerous Condition Brought Onto Premises By Tenant.
A landscaper was injured by explosives brought onto the property by a tenant of the property’s owner. The trial court entered summary judgment in favor of the owner of the residence. On appeal, the plaintiff contended a month-to-month tenancy provides the landlord the right to enter and inspect the property at periodic intervals.
Anti-Slapp Motion Apparently Viewed As A Tactic To Delay Plaintiff’s Case.
Plaintiff is a tenant in a building and alleges significant maintenance and repair issues, including airborne contaminants. According to the complaint, defendants had plaintiff evicted to perform significant repairs, but did no repairs, and would not permit plaintiff to take possession again. So, plaintiff brought an action for breach of warranty of habitability and several […]
Duty Of Care To Four-Year-Old Guest Using Pool.
A four-year-old drowned in the pool of a home friends of his family rented. His parents brought an action against the homeowners and the property management company. The trial court granted defendants’ motion for summary judgment on the ground defendants owed no duty of care to a guest of the tenants. With regard to the […]
Lease Survives Foreclosure.
Plaintiffs had rented space in a converted garage unit for several years when the residential property was foreclosed upon by a bank. The trial court granted the bank’s motion for summary judgment based on its determination the foreclosure sale extinguished plaintiff’s lease. Citing the Protecting Tenants Against Foreclosure Act of 2009 [PTFA; Pub.L. 111-22, Div. A, […]
Landlord May Hold Open Houses.
Tenant lives in a condominium subject to the Santa Monica rent control regulatory scheme. The landlord listed the property for sale, but the tenant would not permit open houses on weekends, and would permit the property to be shown only pursuant to appointments. Frustrated, the landlord filed an action for declaratory relief. The trial court’s order […]
Refusing To Step Aside And Seizing A Letter Of Credit A Landlord, Whose Lease With A Bank Was Disaffirmed By FDIC In A Bank Takeover, Has To Return Asset And Is Now On Hook For Attorney Fees.
In an imminent bank takeover, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation [FDIC] sold the assets of a failed bank to a takeover bank. Among the assets was a $500,000 letter of credit which had been demanded by the failed bank’s landlord to cover any future rents. As part of the takeover, the FDIC disaffirmed the failed bank’s […]
“He’s A Sociopathic Narcissist”… Opinion Or Fact?
Building owners brought a libel action against a former tenant who posted a review of the apartment building on a Website: “Sadly, the Building is (newly) owned and occupied by a sociopathic narcissist—who celebrates making the lives of tenants hell. Of the 16 mostly-long-term tenants who lived in the Building when the new owners moved in, […]
Problem Tenant.
A landlord leased property to a private school. At a certain point, the landlord listed the premises for sale with a real estate broker, and decided to have a building inspector “find out all the things that may or may not be wrong.” The lease provided for the landlord to inspect “at reasonable times after reasonable […]