1
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
On February 2, 2017, plaintiff entered into a rental agreement with Foster and Renita E.
Richardson1 (defendants) concerning the property located at 11721 Runnymede Street, #304 in
North Hollywood, California. The initial rental term was for one year at a rental rate of
$1878.61 per month. On January 18, 2019, plaintiff and defendants agreed to extend the lease
agreement for a period of 18 months beginning February 1, 2019 through July 31, 2020 at a
rental rate of $1,936 per month. Thereafter, pursuant to the terms of the agreement, the tenancy
became month-to-month.
On June 9, 2022,2 plaintiff filed a verified unlawful detainer complaint against
defendants based on a three-day notice to perform covenants or quit. The three-day notice
attached to the complaint related: “Pursuant to the change of terms of tenancy served on you on
April 14, 2022, you were required to pay $1947.00 towards your security deposit. You failed to
pay this amount within the 30 day notice period in violation of your rental agreement.”
Plaintiff also attached to the complaint a copy of a City of Los Angeles COVID-19 Renter
Protections Fact Sheet in English and Spanish which noted the City of Los Angeles’ eviction
protections applied to all rental units in the City of Los Angeles and summarized rental tenant
protections that were in place due to COVID-19.
On June 14, Foster filed an answer in which he generally denied the allegations but
asserted no affirmative defenses.
Motion for Summary Judgment
On August 3, plaintiff filed a motion for summary judgment on the grounds that the
undisputed facts established plaintiff gave defendants a written notice of change of the terms of
tenancy increasing the amount of the security deposit; plaintiff served on defendants a notice to
perform covenants or quit concerning payment of the increased security deposit; defendants