Commercial Tenant Left in the Middle of the Lease

[douglasssmith]

Thanks Mr. K. That makes sense to me. But I wanted to be sure.


So if I choose to go after him -- which I probably won't -- for the lost money before I find a new tenant, I assume I'd pursue that as a garden variety small claims matter (assuming it's within their $$$ limits) as opposed to a special landlord-tenant court.

[douglasssmith]

For others who may be reading this, I asked this same question of an attorney and got this answer:

I’m assuming that the notice you gave was the one authorized by Civil Code section 1951.3. It is my understanding that when that notice has run, you are free to (and should, to mitigate damages) re-rent right away. Assuming your lease was in writing, you then have 4 years from the date of abandonment to sue for rent that you could not avoid losing despite diligent attempts to re-rent.