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What happens when a landlord breaches a lease agreement?

On Behalf of | Apr 11, 2019 | Landlord / Tenant |

Not all rental relationships work out as intended. In a perfect world, each party will fulfill his or her obligations under the lease, but that does not always happen. When an Orange County commercial tenant believes that a landlord has breached the lease, gaining an understanding of the legal options available becomes a priority.

The first place to look is to the lease. What does it say about the landlord’s obligations to the tenant? What provision or provisions specifically were breached?

It is often not enough to simply not like a landlord or approve of the way the property owner deals with certain issues. A commercial tenant should give the property owner the chance to rectify the problem before taking any further action. If that does not work it may be appropriate to move on to the next step.

The next thing to determine is whether the lease requires the parties to participate in either mediation or arbitration. This could be a good way to resolve the dispute between them since it does not require the time, money and effort of litigation. Even if the lease does not specify using an alternative dispute resolution method, the parties could still take advantage of this option.

When these methods do not work, litigation may be appropriate. However, before undertaking any action against an Orange County landlord, gain an understanding of the terms of the lease and ascertaining the rights and legal options available is in order. In most cases, all a commercial tenant wants is for the property owner to live up to the promises made in the lease. It may be possible to make that happen without the expense and tension that comes with civil court action.