Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

I am a commercial landlord in California. A former tenant owes my company about $8850 in past due rent and cam fees. I have a strong landlord friendly lease with legal fees clause. My regular lawyer feels the amount owed is small enough that I should simply go to small claims. The max I can recover in small claims, as a LLC, is $5000

My question is, do you all agree I should just eat the $3850 going the small claims route?


Asked on 9/20/12, 11:22 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

All depends on whether the former tenant is good for it and won't file BK when hit with a fat attorneys fees bill. You also have to bear in mind that the court can only order "reasonable" attorneys fees, regardless of the wording of the contract. The fees clause cannot become a fine or penalty. So how much is reasonable to collect $8850? Can the case be prosecuted for a small enough amount in fees that it is reasonable, or will you wind up eating some of the fees no matter what? Bottom line is this is a numbers game, not legal determination.

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Answered on 9/20/12, 4:22 pm


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