BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1263
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1263 (Audra Strickland)
As Amended January 13, 2010
Majority vote
JUDICIARY 9-0
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|Ayes:|Feuer, Tran, Brownley, | | |
| |Evans, Hagman, Jones, | | |
| |Knight, Lieu, Monning | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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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 a) or b) 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.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides that a tenant of real property, for a term less than
life, or the executor or administrator of his or her estate is
guilty of UD under any of the following circumstances:
a) When the tenant continues in possession after the lease
term expires;
b) When the tenant continues in possession without the
landlord's permission after defaulting on rent payment;
c) When the tenant continues in possession after failure to
perform other lease requirements;
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d) When the tenant is assigning, subletting, or committing
waste on the premises in violation of the lease agreement,
or using the premises for an unlawful purpose; or,
e) When the tenant agrees to surrender the property on a
certain date and fails to do so.
2)Provides that, before a landlord can seek repossession of
rental property through a UD action, based on one the
circumstances above, the tenant must be served notice to quit
the property or cure the default of other lease violation.
Specifies that the required notice must be served as follows:
a) By personally delivering it to the tenant; or,
b) If the tenant is absent from his or her place of
residence or business, by leaving a copy with a person of
suitable age and discretion at either place and sending a
copy through the mail to the tenant at his or her residence;
or,
c) If the tenant's place of residence and business cannot be
determined, or if a person of suitable age and discretion
cannot be found, then by doing all of the following:
i) Affixing the notice in a conspicuous place at the
property from which the tenant is to be removed;
ii) Delivering a copy to the person there residing, if
such person can be found; and,
iii) Mailing a copy to the tenant at the property address.
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
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
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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: 0003560