Question : Early commercial lease termination in California?
Thank you for stopping at my question. I need a Commerical Lease Expert in the state California, specifically, in the county of San Diego.

My friend signed a 5 year commercial lease for her gift shop. She just opened the shop last year, but business has not been good and she is out of money. She needs to terminate the lease early, but she has 4.5 years left. On her lease agreement, it does not state what the damages would be for an early lease termination.

She offered the landlord a lump sum of 6 months rent to cover any cost to the landlord. She found a buyer for her inventory and store fixtures, so that is why she was able to offer 6 months worth of rent and CAM fees. However, the landlord wanted more money, which she does not have.

She is out of money and have maxed out her credit card and can not take out a loan. My question is, what can she do? What can the landlord sue her for? If she does get sued and do not have money to pay the damages, what happens?
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Best answer:

Answer by Mr Placid
The landlord’s remedy will largely depend on the terms of the contract. But, in general, damages for breach of commercial leases are covered in Cal. Civil Code section 1951.2 on.

As an alternative, she could assign her lease to that person who was willing to buy the inventory and store fixtures. Rather than moving all that, perhaps the buyer would be interested in leaving it all in place, and simply operating a store from the existing location.

I’d suggest consulting a local attorney if she can’t reach a reasonable agreement with the landlord.