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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8 Landlord's assertion that tenant may not raise the defense of retaliatory eviction because her lease terminated upon expiration of the three-day notice to quit or pay rent is unsound. As pointed out by tenant, this argument, if accepted, would eliminate any assertion of the defense in an unlawful detainer action, since by the time such action reaches trial, the tenant has already been served with a notice terminating the tenancy. Landlord's cited authorities do not support his position. Briggs v. Electronic Memories Magnetics Corp.
(1975) 53 Cal.App.3d 900 [126 Cal.Rptr. 34] involved a commercial tenant who surrendered possession in response to a three-day quit or pay rent notice, and nowhere in the opinion is it held that a tenant who remains in possession after service of such a notice holds without benefit of a lease. Gartlan v. C.A. Hooper Co. (1918) 177 Cal. 414 [170 P. 1115], a quiet title action involving water rights, has no landlord-tenant relevance whatsoever. Finally in Bradley v. Gallagher (1973)14 Ill. App.3d 652 [303 N.E.2d 251], the tenants asserted retaliatory eviction principles in affirmative suits against their landlord, and failed to prove retaliation. (Id., at pp. 252-253.) The tenants refused to renew their leases, which expired according to their terms. (Id., at p. 252.) Thereafter the landlord instituted unlawful detainer proceedings, and the tenants again raised the retaliatory eviction allegations. (Id., at p. 253.) The trial court ruled for the landlord, and the appellate court affirmed, holding that the prior adjudication of the retaliatory allegations against the tenants was res judicata, and that since the tenants had refused to renew their leases, they were tenants at sufferance, not able to raise retaliatory eviction as a defense. (Id., at pp. 254-255.) It can be seen that the critical fact in Bradley was that the tenants had already raised the retaliatory eviction issues and lost by the time the unlawful detainer action was brought.

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