BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 1263
                                                                  Page  1

          CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
          AB 1263 (Audra Strickland)
          As Amended June 24, 2010
          Majority vote
           
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          |ASSEMBLY:  |68-0 |(January 27,    |SENATE: |34-0 |(July 1, 2010) |
          |           |     |2010)           |        |     |               |
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           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