Lease & Property Management Disputes EXPERIENCE Represented property management company in dispute brought by tenant over failure to disclose mold remediation in unit prior to lease execution. Represented the owner of a commercial building located in Sunnyvale, California following an arbitration that resulted in below-market rent being decided upon by the arbitrator and obtained a renegotiation with tenant for a more favorable rental value. Prosecuted several commercial unlawful detainer actions. Second-chaired trial regarding interpretation of a CAM provision contained in a commercial lease on behalf of property owner. Successfully obtained writs of attachment, judgments, and settlements against commercial tenants for failure to pay rent. Completed judgment debtor proceedings to locate assets to satisfy judgments. Obtained a favorable settlement for a landlord client in a breach of contract action to recover amounts from original lessor after assignee to lessor defaulted and breached lease. Defended a landlord in breach of lease agreement arising out of the alleged breach of an exclusive use clause. Employed successfully strategy invoking indemnity clause in client's favor and obtained favorable settlement. Successfully negotiated lease amendments and stipulations for entry of judgment for possession with tenants on behalf of developer to remove commercial tenants from the Oakland Army Base in advance of the City of Oakland's redevelopment of 170 acres into a business and port logistics center. Represented a restaurant tenant against landlord in dispute relating to commercial lease, CAM charges, and operating expenses. Represented the City of Oakland and developer in complex unlawful detainer proceedings against commercial tenants in connection with redevelopment of the Oakland Army Base. Recovered possession of 100+ acres along with monetary relief.
Page 2/6 Advised the owner of numerous apartment complexes regarding disclosure obligations to tenants, including obligations when known sex-offender resides in or near complex as required by Megan's law. Obtained summary judgment in favor of an occupant of rental property who was forced to vacate the space prior to execution of the lease as a result of an improper venting system used to vent acetone fumes from an adjacent tenant. Obtained judgment in favor of the owner of substantial office, commercial and industrial space, in a case brought by tenants challenging the ability of landlords to pass on increases in property taxes of about $40 million to tenants when properties are sold. Represented a landlord public pension fund against commercial tenant in unlawful detainer action. Represented a management company in dispute with HOA over duty of management company to repair construction defects on decking of 84 high-end condominium units. Defended a developer of high-rise condominiums in action by restaurant lessee claiming right to continued occupancy. Represented a landlord against commercial tenant in unlawful detainer action. Represented the owner of a food store who successfully challenged landlord approving a competing tenant. Represented the owner of billboard against commercial tenant. Represented owner of office building to enforce a 30-year old reciprocal parking easement. Represented the owner of shopping center in dispute with lessee over duty to fund offsite improvements. Unlawful detainer against a golf driving range based on access issues. Unlawful detainer against a restaurant owner by owner of underlying property. Unlawful detainer against a restaurant owner by owner of underlying property. Obtained a writ of attachment against the defaulted tenant and guarantor in connection with a breach of lease and guarantee action. Second-chaired a judicial reference proceeding on behalf of a commercial landlord against a nationwide drugstore tenant in lease interpretation dispute regarding rent calculation and obtained favorable decision.
Page 3/6 Negotiated a settlement in favor of a limited liability company whose members had previously invented a hi-tech electronic motion detecting device which replaced bulky gyroscopes in aerospace applications and eventually became ubiquitous in brake and stability systems in passenger cars. Obtained a jury verdict for breach of contract in favor of a multi-tenant "jewelry mart" building against tenant who refused to pay his rent. Obtained a trial verdict in favor of a bank that had purchased a retail and commercial building which it intended to convert entirely to its own uses as a bank branch and offices. Obtained a trial verdict in favor of the ground lessor of a large condominium project which had a dispute with the ground lessee over the re-setting of ground rent pursuant to appraisals of the property. Obtained a verdict in favor of our client, the lessee under a long-term ground lease, in a dispute with the lessor as to whether, for purposes of our client's purchase option under the ground lease, the valuation of the subject property should take into account the economic effect of the remaining term of the ground lease itself. Obtained judgment in favor of the owner and ground lessor of two commercial centers in Newport Beach in an arbitration to re-set ground rent based upon a complex formula which included not only the value of the land, but determinations of what the ground lessees' income should be from their projects. Obtained successful plaintiff's verdict in case by commercial landlord against tenant and tenant-guarantors over failure to pay rent. Obtained judgment for rent, interest, and attorney's fees, for virtually all amounts sought by landlord. Renegotiated lease with favorable terms to landlord as part of settlement of a rental dispute on behalf of landlord with billboard lessee over obligation to pay rent following purported claim by lessee that its billboard was obstructed by new construction of mixed-use project. Represented a major owner of office and retail properties, in a suit against a restaurant tenant in one of its shopping centers for breach of lease for nonpayment and unlawful detainer. Represented a tenant in a dispute against its landlord which refused to honor an option that allowed the tenant, under its lease, to leave after only half the lease term provided it reimbursed the landlord for the unrecouped portion of the tenant improvements which the landlord had installed.
Page 4/6 Represented a ground lessor in a ground rent revaluation arbitration which ultimately fixed the new rent at the amount which our client claimed to be owed. Successfully had the arbitration award confirmed by the Superior Court as a judgment setting forth that new rent amount, even though the deciding-vote neutral arbitrator had refused to find for that amount and instead voted that the amount should be a compromise between out client's position and the ground lessee's position. As a result of the decision, the increased amount of rent due our client over the succeeding rental period was over $1 million higher than it would have been under the valuation being asserted by the ground lessee. Successfully tried and arbitrated many cases involving the valuation of hotel, office, and parking properties. Issues adjudicated included legal impact on valuation of changes in zoning, allowable densities/far, parking covenants, restrictions on use, operating covenants, and transport impact assessment fees. Obtained favorable settlement for the owner of a large regional mall sued by several tenants who were disputing pass-through charges for real property taxes and assessments to the extent those charges included special taxes to repay Mello-Roos bonds which had been issued to build a parking structure, new access roads, and public plaza areas. Represented through arbitration a country club operator in arbitration of ground lease dispute involving percentage rents between country club and Native American landowners, applying federal and state laws governing tribal land. Negotiated a settlement in favor of a shopping center owner and restaurant operator of a sports-themed restaurant against claims by another tenants that its co-tenancy clause requiring a "high scale restaurant" in the shopping center had purportedly been violated. Obtained summary judgment holding in client's favor on commercial lease dispute in which the tenant asserted breach of lease and constructive eviction for: (i) landlord's use of the vacated space for landlord's own purposes; and (ii) landlord's refusal to negotiate a potential sublease for an alternate use of the space. Recovered approximately $2 million for water damage and remediation costs resulting from national property manager's failure to timely respond to widespread water intrusion and mold growth. Obtained a favorable jury verdict for a REIT landlord against a biochemical research company tenant who had failed to decommission a radioactive materials license issued by the Department of Health Services. Also obtained prejudgment writ of attachment. Arbitrated the value of high-rise office property in Westwood. Litigated the valuation of industrial property used for port operations in the City of Wilmington. Handled numerous landslide cases, including those involving commercial facilities, residential projects and high-end single family homes throughout the state.
Page 5/6 Represented a Beverly Hills commercial landlord in an action for breach of lease, constructive eviction, and trespass. Drafted and won a defense motion for summary adjudication that resulted in the dismissal of the tenant's claims. Represented property owners, commercial landlords, and general contractors in construction claims cases. Obtained an injunction in favor of shopping center owner against group protesting development. Represented an office building owner against tenant law firms regarding habitability issues and breach of lease claims (multiple attachments obtained). Obtained summary judgment and award of attorney's fees in favor of a major developer with regard to a claim by a restaurant franchise, that allowing a Chili's to operate on an adjoining site, also owned by the developer, constituted a breach of the implied covenant of good faith in the lease by allowing a direct competitor to lease an adjoining site. Obtained a court judgment in favor of the ground lessor in a dispute with a major pharmaceutical company regarding the calculation of rent. Obtained dismissal following opening statements in favor of an owner of a "smart" building in a claim by the single tenant regarding the amount of rent due. Obtained substantial judgment in favor of institutional investor landlord and against professional services firm tenant for failure to pay rent, defeating asserted defenses of failure to mitigate and failure to reasonably approve proposed sublessee. Represented a ground lessor in a dispute involving interpretation of the ground lease. We prevailed in the trial court and on appeal and the ground lessor received a high valuation of the property and significant rent based upon 10% of the valuation. Represented a landlord in bench trial for declaratory relief over the interpretation of identical provisions in two ground leases relating to the manner in which the rental amount was to be calculated for the first option renewal period. Successfully obtained an arbitration award involving fair rental value of premises during a lease renewal term awarding the owner an additional $12 million over the remaining term of the lease. Negotiated a settlement in favor of landlord for damages caused by abandonment of high-end art gallery tenant before filing suit. Represented a commercial landlord in dispute with large retail shopping center tenant over rent adjustments based on co-tenancy provision in lease and successfully negotiated a settlement before commencing litigation.
Page 6/6 Prior results do not guarantee similar results