Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California
landlord
Our warehouse land lord claimed that he sent letter and bill for us to pay sometime last year, while we are almost positive that he was out of the country during that time, because when we called, his secretary said that he is in China at that time. Is there any way we can check or proof that he was not in USA during that time. Is US Immigration department can release this kind of information? In fact, we never receive his letter or bill at that time and he use this non payment breach of lease agreement excuse to refuse honouring lease extention option to us.What can we do? We already pay the bill that he claimed, but he said that bill have to be paid at that time.
The fact that he want us out is because he wanted to sell the property, but we still have lease extention option.
Thank you in advance.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: landlord
Proving that the landlord was out of the country wouldn't do you much good. The letter or bill could have been mailed from China, or it could have been mailed by the landlord's agent or employee.
If your rent was paid by check or other means producing a paper trail, you should be able to prove payment either to the landlord or to a court. If the payment was in cash, you have a serious problem of proof.
Is this a commercial warehouse operation, or are you leasing space you use as your own, private warehouse? If the former, this is a regulated business subject to rules of the Public Utilities Commission. If the latter, ordinary commercial lease law would apply, and the specific language of your lease is very important in establishing your rights, if any.
Your option rights to extend the lease should prevail even in the event of a sale. This sounds like a situation where you may need the services of a real-estate attorney to evaluate and enforce your rights against the landlord.
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