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