Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Landlord's responsibility to delinquent storage space tenants

I bought a building 18 years ago and inherited a storage space with an out of town tenant from the previous owner. There was no existing written lease or contract between the previous owner and the tenant

and I did not sign any lease or contract with the tenant. The tenant continued to pay me annual rental

fee of $300/year in January of each year for the next

14 year by mail. There was no other correspondence between me and the tenant other than accepting and

depositing his check. The tenant stopped paying rent

starting January of 1997 and I sold the building in

August of 1998. His belongings were thrown away prior

turning over the building to the new owner. He wrote

to me on 4-2-00 to inform me that I threw away his

properties without properly notifying him and threaten

to sue me for large amount of money. His last paymeny to me was on January of 1996 for rent due for the whole year. Does the statue of limitation or the

delinquent rental payment status releive me from any

legal responsibility.


Asked on 4/06/00, 1:06 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Christopher Enge Law Offices of Christopher J. Enge

Re: Landlord's responsibility to delinquent storage space tenants

Assuming California law governs, the statute of limitations will either be two years for an action on an oral contract, or three years for damage to personal property. A court would probably find that the time runs from the tenant's discovery of the problem, which means you are probably not out of the woods yet. If you are sued, you should probably urge an offset for the unpaid rent. Although I would have to research this issue in detail, my gut reaction is that a warehouseman may not dispose of property without notice to its owner just because rent went unpaid. Lastly, if you get sued you may want to check with your insurance company to see if there is coverage for this kind of loss. If this case proceeds further, please let me know if you would like help.

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Answered on 4/19/00, 11:31 am


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