Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California
commercial landlord puts us out of business
Can a landlord, at the end of our lease tell us the rent is going to go up by ''a whole lot'', over $1000.00 more per month making us decide at that point to go out of business after 14 years. But then he rented it for practically the same we had been paying, and to add insult to injury he made numerous needed repairs we had asked him to do over the 14 years we were good tennants, barely complaining, except during rainy seasons when the roof leaked over our heads from day one. For the new tennants he has alread painted the building and has even widened an overhead door we had complained over the years was too narrow. For his new tennant all done within a month while we pleaded over 14 years to no avail. I believe he wanted to get rid of us when I complained of an unusual surge of our gas bill, and shortly after the untility gas company inspector had discovered our gas line was being illegaly stiphened /diverted to accomodate two of his other feuding tennants that had moved into one of his adjacent buildings. He had recently split it into two units and these tennants were unsuccessfully sharing a gas bill. I had unfortunately told him what he had done was ''illegal'' especially when I had been unknowingly incurring their gas usage
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: commercial landlord puts us out of business
I agree with my colleagues.
Re: commercial landlord puts us out of business
Attorney Shers is correct - particularly in the area of commercial leases, once the lease is up, the landlord can modify your tenancy in any way he or she sees fit. You could attempt to claim it was retaliatory eviction, but that's a very hard case to pursue in a commercial setting. You may want to consult with a local real estate attorney to review the facts and evaluate the cost-benefit of pursuing such an action.
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Re: commercial landlord puts us out of business
Unfortunately, when a lease is up, either side can decide not to renew, without having to have any reason. While he mistreated you, his doping so was not illegal. You dil dnot complain of a health hazard so you can not use that as a defense. You could demand of him that he pay you for the increased gas usage, but unless than is more than several $100 it probably is not worth more than a short letter to him as opposed to going to Small Claims Court and then trying to collect.
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