BILL ANALYSIS AB 1263 Page 1 CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS AB 1263 (Audra Strickland) As Amended June 24, 2010 Majority vote ----------------------------------------------------------------- |ASSEMBLY: |68-0 |(January 27, |SENATE: |34-0 |(July 1, 2010) | | | |2010) | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Original Committee Reference: JUD. SUMMARY : Provides that in order to effect removal of a commercial tenant from property under the unlawful detainer (UD) statute, notice that the commercial tenant is in violation of lease terms must be served as follows: 1)By delivering a copy of the notice to the tenant personally. 2)If the tenant is absent from the subject property, by leaving a copy with a person of suitable age and discretion at the property and mailing a copy to the tenant at the rental property address. 3)If service cannot be achieved by 1) or 2) above, then by affixing a copy in a conspicuous place at the rental property and mailing a copy addressed to the tenant at the rental property address. The Senate amendments added a provision to specify that use of a registered process server or a sheriff to make service shall be deemed prima facie evidence of reasonable due diligence in completing service and then subsequently deleted that same provision. AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill was substantially similar to the version approved by the Senate. FISCAL EFFECT : None COMMENTS : Under existing law, before a landlord can initiate a UD action to regain possession of the rented property, the landlord must serve notice upon the tenant that he or she has violated a term of the lease, thereby giving the tenant an opportunity to either correct the violation or leave the AB 1263 Page 2 premises. The procedure serving notice upon the tenant is set out in the statute in some detail. Existing law creates a strong preference for serving the tenant in person before employing alternative forms of notice. Specifically, existing law requires that personal service be attempted at the tenant's residence and the place of business, if known. If the tenant is absent from the residence and place of business, then service may be accomplished by leaving the notice with another person of suitable age and discretion at either the residence or place of business, and then mailing a copy of notice to the tenant at his or her place of residence (i.e., substitute service). If the place of residence and place of business cannot be ascertained, and there is no suitable person with whom to leave the notice at either place, then service may be achieved by posting a copy of the notice in a conspicuous place at the rental property and then mailing a copy of the notice addressed to the tenant at the place where the rental property is situated (i.e., post-and-mail service). This bill seeks to address a problem that arises when the existing statutory scheme is applied to a commercial tenant. According to the author, in residential evictions, the existing law does not present a problem, since the landlord obviously knows the tenant's place of residence. However in the commercial context, the author contends, the landlord typically has no reason to know the personal residence of the commercial tenant - unlike the residential context, when the rental property and the place of residence are one and the same. The author seeks to correct this problem by eliminating from the existing statute all references to attempting personal service or mailing notices to "the residence" or "place of business" and instead requiring that personal service be attempted at, or any required mailings be sent to, the rented "property." The author states that the bill is necessary to provide landlords with a reasonable method of serving notice on commercial tenants, whose residential addresses are often unknown to the landlord. Analysis Prepared by : Thomas Clark / JUD / (916) 319-2334 FN: 0005055