In the recent (unpublished) case Century City Mall, LLC v. Snowfin Franchise Grp. (Ca. Ct. App. Feb. 19, 2025), the California Court of Appeals upheld the grant of summary judgment by the lower court in favor of the Landlord in its eviction action against the Tenant. The Court of Appeals concluded that the language of the lease was clear and unambiguous that rent was due by the first day of the month without a grace period.
Century City Mall, LLC (“Landlord”) and Snowfin Franchise Group, LLC (“Tenant”) entered into a lease agreement in August, 2016. On February 1, 2023, Tenant did not pay the rent due under the lease and, as a result, Landlord served Tenant with a five-day notice to pay rent or quit on February 2, 2023. Tenant did not pay rent or vacate the premises as required by the notice, which caused Landlord to file an unlawful detainer complaint on February 9, 2023. The Landlord then filed a motion for summary judgment arguing that Landlord had a right to possession of the premises under the lease because Tenant did not pay rent on time. Tenant argued that the lease provides a 10-day grace period to pay rent based on language contained in the “late charge” section of the lease, which states, “Unless specifically stated otherwise in this Lease, all Rent or other charges required to be paid by Tenant pursuant to this Lease shall be due and payable ten (10) days after demand, without any notice from Landlord and without any offsets or deductions whatsoever.”
In upholding the lower court’s decision, the Court of Appeals explained that Section 2.01(a) of the lease specifically states that rent is due “in advance on or before the first day of each month, without prior demand or notice.” Due to the specificity of that language, Tenant’s argument that rent is due and payable 10 days after demand pursuant to Section 2.07 of the lease fell flat because the 10-day time period only applies “unless specifically stated otherwise in the lease.”
This case shows that even in the tenant-friendly state of California, courts will not rescue tenants who fail to pay their rent on time under leases containing clear and unambiguous terms.