Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California
I rent a small business office in South San Francisco. Recently the building got sold. The new landlords are now charging additional fees to cover Common Area Maintenance that is about 30% in addition to my current rent. This is happening to all the tenants. When I first signed the lease with the old landlord, we had discussed that my maintenance and utilities will be included with my rent. When I went to sign my lease initially, it did not show that so i asked the landlord and he assured me it was included. I, not being a lease expert believed him and verbally agreed to the conditions and I signed the lease. Now the new landlord claims it is not in the lease and that they are allowed to charge all the tenants and myself these new fees. I even have an old email from the old landlord, while he owned the building, agreeing that I shouldn't be charged for it ( he sent me a bill for it and I disputed the bill). But they disregarded it. Furthermore, upon talking to the other tenants, the old landlord inflated the square footage of many tenants. One of the tenants confronted the old landlord about the over inflated square footage, they claimed its to cover common area maintenance. I also checked and my square footage is inflated as well. This also caused the new landlords to over pay for the building because of the over inflated square footage, I think. I am guessing that is why the new "fees". The new landlord are now threatening to evict me if I do not pay these new fees, which are unfair and outrageous. Do i have a chance to fight it? I stated to the property manager that they are committing a "change in rules" because they are re-interpreting a clause in the lease. They state that the lease says CAMs are to be paid by the tenants, but were never collected. But the rule was always the rent covered these costs. A tenant, who was there for over 11 years, never had to pay a separate CAM, through multiple building owners, which then defines the rule that CAMs are already included.
Please, I am a small business, that with the 30% increase in my rent would cause me to go out of business. I'm hoping i can get some advice to solve this dilemma. Thanks!
1 Answer from Attorneys
All tenants should get together and hire a lawyer to address these issues with the landlord, and if necessary, take legal action.