This article contains a brief summary of remedies available to a commercial landlord upon a tenant’s default in payment or performance obligations under a lease. Upon a tenant’s material lease default, with proper notice, a commercial landlord can terminate the lease.  The failure to pay rent or perform other financial obligations will ordinarily entitle a […]

Consistent with the public policy favoring free alienability of property, absent any restrictions in a commercial lease, the tenant is free to assign its interest to a third party, or to sublease all or any portion of the leased premises.  An assignment transfers all of tenant’s rights under the lease for the remainder of the […]

Most property owners in California are generally aware that Proposition 65 and certain other statutory schemes impose notice requirements on Landlord where conditions on their properties result in exposure by individuals hazardous materials or to chemicals identified by the State of California as known to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity.  For example, if a building […]

A lease is both a contract and a conveyance of property.  As a general rule, contract law provides the parties with wide latitude to customize their respective rights and duties under their mutual agreement.  The California legislature, enacting §1995.270 of the Civil Code, expressly acknowledged the strong public policy “to enable and facilitate freedom of […]

Most negotiations for real estate purchases and leases begin with the parties entering into letters of intent, intended to form the basis for the negotiation of a definitive agreement. Often such LOI’s are non-binding on the parties until such definitive agreement is fully executed. Unfortunately, many of such letters of intent are ambiguous as to […]