Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

Re: Can I Move?

What he will do is unknown. What he can do is sue you personally for the balance of the rent due under the original lease (cannot sue you for the two un-exercised options). He will probably also sue the LLC if he has any professional advice (any lawyer is going to tell him to sue everyone and every entity who has any potential liability for the lease). He could also sue the prior owner of the business if he remained liabile when you assumed the lease. There are two things that could have happened when you bought the business. You might have just assumed the lease, and the previous owner remained liable on the lease also. Alternatively, the lease could have been completely and fully assumed by you and the LLC, and the previous owner effectively released from any further liability. You need to have the lease and the assumption documentation reviewed to determine who can be sued for unpaid rent. I would suggest before walking away that you attempt to find someone to sublet the space, and convince the landlord that is in his best interests. You can also attempt to negotiate some termination of the lease, although if I represent the landlord, I'm not going to suggest he do that - he has you contractually obligated to pay the remaining balance of the lease, as well as your company.

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