California law treats residential and commercial leases very differently. Generally, commercial tenants receive less legal protections than residential tenants. It is therefore critical for both landlords and tenants to be very familiar with the terms of a commercial lease, and not just assume that the same standard provisions are provided in each agreement. Residential Lease Agreement For starters, a residential lease agreement is a contract between a tenant and a landlord to use property for living. The agreement is usually...

California law requires landlords to make certain mandatory disclosures to tenants, most of which are usually found in the lease or an addendum to the lease, and generally concern the health and safety of potential building inhabitants. It is important for both landlords and tenants to be aware of the mandatory disclosures. If a landlord does not make a required disclosure, or fails to disclose dangerous conditions on the property, the landlord can later be...

One of the most dreaded parts of renting a place to live is moving. Tenants generally bank on the fact that they will not see their security deposit again. This does not necessarily have to be the case, and tenants as well as landlords should stay informed about their rights to know how much of their deposit they are entitled to receive back from the tenant’s perspective, and how much can be held back...

Challenging a variance in California can be very difficult.  In the recent case of Eskeland v. City of Del Mar, 224 Cal. App. 4th 936 (4th Dist. 2014), a property owner purchased a home with a pre-existing non-conforming structure. His front lawn was shorter than 20 feet, violating the city's zoning ordinances. On top of that, he wanted to build a new house on the same, non-conforming footprint as the house he bought, because the...