Landlord Tenant Attorney Examines Importance of Understanding Commercial Lease Terms

We recently represented a commercial tenant that the landlord attempted to evict. The landlord filed an unlawful detainer complaint based on the tenant’s failure to timely exercise the first of three five-year lease extension options. (By “timely exercise” we mean written notice from tenant to landlord of their intent to extend the lease, received by the landlord on or before the due date stated in the lease agreement.) This case has a specific aspect to it that created some doubt as to when notice was due: The commercial lease had been amended four times and extended by two years during the first five-year term.

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