My question involves landlord lease/contract law in the State of: California
I purchased a 10 unit apartment building in 2004. We began receiving monthly checks from Coinmach but no other information from them. In early 2008 I contacted them about removing their equipment so I could install my own washer and dryer. I was told that the lease was automatically renewed in 2006, and could not be canceled until 2011. They then sent me a copy of the original lease which was executed in 1996 between another laundry company (which they acquired), and the owner of the building at that time (not the parties I purchased the building from). The laundry room lease apparently renews every five years unless canceled prior to 30 days of the renewal date. Had I known that a lease was in effect, I would have canceled it in 2006 when it last renewed. It seems outrageous that we could be held as a "successor/assign" without even realizing that a contract existed. I admit I was naive about commercial property management since we believed that the equipment was on a month-to-month basis. Can anyone shed some light on the validity of such a contract? I am hard pressed to believe that they should be allowed to benefit financially through their own inaction of not notifying me that we were subject to a lease. Any thoughts and comments will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

