Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California
I have rented an office since 2003 from a landlord later passed away in 2005. From then on his wife and son have taken over the management and it has been lax at best. From 2006-2009 the heater did not work and I made several written complaints to them from 2006-2009 and they told me that it was just the termostat that needed to be adjusted. This didn't work and at the end of last year they replaced the ceiling mounted heaters via a crane. I spoke to the heater installer and he said that the previous heater did not function at all. I want to find out if I have a viable action against the landlord for failure to provide a properly functioning heater. Also, they painted the recently vacated unit next to mine this week without giving me any notice. I complained to the landlord that they fumes were giving my employees headaches and was told that the painters could open a window. The windows were already open and they should have painted over the weekend. Now the landlord has come into our office to change the front door lock and all of the other doors within my office. They said they just wanted to make sure that they have the key. Can they do this and don't they need to provide us with a 24 hour notice before they come to our office?
2 Answers from Attorneys
You are confusing residential landlord/tenant obligations with commercial ones.
A lot will depend on the terms of your written commercial lease with the landlord. It is possible that Landlord is responsible for maintaining the Heating/Vent/Air Conditioning (HVAC) in the building. Also, the lease would address NOTICE issues regarding repairs/maintenance. You might have some "statute of limitation" issues since some of this stuff happened beginning in '06, but that should not be a problem if Landlord was telling you the heater was not broken. All in all, you MIGHT be able to file suit in civil court, but depending on the actual damage to your business, this might not be worthwhile. Make sure they give you a copy of the new keys.
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