California Court of Appeal

In an unlawful detainer action involving an apartment rented under the Los Angeles Rent Stabilization Ordinance (LARSO), L.A. Mun. Code section 151.00 et seq., dealing with the issue of whether a tenant's breach of an LARSO rental contract, regardless of the breach's materiality or impact on the landlord, justifies the landlord forfeiting the agreement and terminating tenancy, the lower court's judgment in favor of landlord is reversed where: 1) a tenant's breach must be material to justify forfeiture; 2) the tenant's obligation to obtain and pay for insurance protected the tenant's interest, not the landlord's; and thus 3) the tenant's failure to obtain a policy could not have harmed the landlord and therefore was not a material breach of the agreement constituting grounds for forfeiture.

Appellate Information

• Published 2016/02/25

Judges

• LUI

Court

• California Court of Appeal

Counsel