What Happened: A dry-cleaning tenant began paying reduced rent, starting in 2018. In August 2021, it terminated the lease and moved out. By this time, it owed the landlord about $200,000 in back rent. The landlord sued to recover the rent. The good news: The trial court agreed that the tenant had breached the lease. The bad news: It awarded the landlord zero dollars because it failed to mitigate its damages. The landlord could have prevented the large buildup of back rent by evicting the tenant sooner, the court reasoned. The landlord appealed.  

Ruling: The California appeals court reversed the lower court’s ruling.

Reasoning: The landlord had no duty to evict the tenant so long as it remained in possession and affirmed the contract. Under the lease, the landlord was entitled to collect partial rent payments without prejudice to its ability to seek the full amount owed. The tenant partners “were masters of their own destiny” as month-to-month tenants who could have moved out at any time. But they chose instead to continue under the lease and, consequently, owed the landlord what was due under it. Moreover, the trial evidence suggested that the shopping center had excessive vacancies and that the rent due under the dry cleaner’s lease was above market value. Under these circumstances, evicting the tenant wouldn’t have mitigated the landlord’s damages.

• Lq Invs., L.P. v. Kim, 2025 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 5080, 2025 LX 327170