EDC Associates, Ltd. v. Gutierrez, 153 Cal. App. 3d 167 (1984)

Citation: EDC Associates, Ltd. v. Gutierrez, 153 Cal. App. 3d 167 (1984)
Parent Document: EDC Associates, Ltd. v. Gutierrez, 153 Cal. App. 3d 167 (1984)
Jurisdiction: California (state)
Effective Date: 1984-03-16
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2116822/edc-associates-ltd-v-gutierrez/ ↗

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Landlord would have this court hold that regardless of its unlawful motivation, as found by the trial court after an adversary hearing, it should still be permitted to evict the tenant if an alternative, proper purpose — nonpayment of rent — exists. This is answered insofar as the defense rests on the statutory source of the doctrine of retaliatory eviction by subdivision (c), alluded to above. It provides an adequate procedure for litigating a landlord's claim that the eviction is not retaliatory in nature, but for a proper purpose. In the instant case, the landlord's asserted ground for instituting this unlawful detainer proceeding was for nonpayment of rent. The trial court found that the real reason was otherwise. I think that the statutory procedure for establishing that an unlawful detainer action is brought for legitimate purposes should be engrafted onto the common law source of the doctrine of retaliatory eviction. This permits a landlord to prove that the ostensible purpose of the unlawful detainer action is the actual purpose. That issue was litigated in the instant case and the landlord did not prevail, for the trial court found that the landlord's attempt at eviction was retaliatory in nature.

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