Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California
Commercial Lease Assignment
We leased an equipped cafe for 5 years. 22 months into the lease we asked permission to terminate the lease. We had qualified people that wanted to lease. Landlords ok'd. We were then informed that it would have to be a sublease, with us still responsible. The "sublease" was signed, it was actually an "Assignment of a Commercial Lease". The new tenants made rent directly to landlords, our keys were taken and we heard no more until over 2 years later when we recieved a copy of our lease, a copy of the Assignment of Commercial Lease that we had signed, and a new Assignment of Commercial Lease to a 3rd party that we knew nothing about and wasn't qualified financially.
Landlords had apparently done a 2nd assignment without our signature or consent, at the request of the parties that took over our lease. We were never notified of this until the 3rd party to this lease was in arrears several months & they plan to take us to small claims court. We feel that the original contract was ammended without our permission, sublet without our permission or knowledge and we should have been notified immediately upon any arrears in rent. We were not even given the option of resuming occupancy. Can we be held liable under these circumstances?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Commercial Lease Assignment
The answer, of course, is maybe. Your arguments sound
OK, but they will depend upon the language of the
documents and the details of the facts that you
couldn't put in the message. You certainly should make
these arguments to the judge in the small claims
trial, but there is no guarantee that you will prevail.
Although you cannot have a lawyer in small claims court,
you can consult with an attorney to help you
prepare your arguments and presentation.
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