Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

Dear Silvina: The sub-lease is not valid if the master lease prohibits the tenant from subleasing and the landlord did not consent to the sublease. The tenant/sub-lessor has breached his lease with his landlord. You are in the premises under an unauthorized sublease, so the landlord may sue to evict you at anytime. As to the relationship between you and the tenant/sublessor, you have no rights other than as granted in the sublease. I have not read the sublease, but I would assume that a court would enforce the sublease in a dispute between you and the tenant/sublessor. The invalidity of the sublease under the terms of the master lease affects both you and the tenant/sublessor, but primarily the clause about no subleases is designed to protect the master landlord. You cannot argue that because the sublease is invalid and ineffective to bind the landlord of the tenant/sublessor, it is also ineffective and invalid to prevent the tenant/sublessor from evicting you. In fact, the tenant/sublessor is required to evict you by the terms of his master lease with the landlord. Either the landlord or the tenant/sublessor may sue to evict you. Your only hope is to go directly to the landlord and request that you be permitted to lease directly from the landlord.