1
INTRODUCTION
Plaintiff DLI Properties, LLC filed an unlawful detainer action against defendant
Cherokee Hill after she failed to pay rent and defaulted on the parties’ lease agreement.
Defendant raised as an affirmative defense plaintiff’s failure to comply with Civil Code
section 1962’s1 disclosure requirements. On appeal, defendant contends section 1962,
subdivision (c), bars a “successor owner” from instituting eviction proceedings based on
nonpayment of rent during the period of statutory noncompliance and, in her case, plaintiff did
not make the required disclosures in the rental agreement. We determine that plaintiff was not
a successor owner for purposes of subdivision (c) and affirm.
BACKGROUND2
Defendant moved into the subject property in 2011, when she entered into a rental
agreement with the owners, Prince E. Cullum, Sr. and Bernice Leola Cullum. The Cullums lost
the home to foreclosure, and the property was sold to plaintiff on September 8, 2015.
Plaintiff hired Strategic Property Management, Inc. (Strategic) to manage the property.
On the date of the sale, Strategic and defendant executed a new rental agreement for the
premises. In the written month-to-month rental agreement, “Strategic Property Management
Inc.” was listed as “Landlord.” Defendant was directed to pay rent to “DLI Properties LLC” at
“P.O. Box 1029 Agoura Hills, Ca 91376” (¶ 3). Regarding service of notices, defendant was
directed to send notices to “Landlord: Strategic Property Management Inc [¶] P.O. Box 1029
[¶] Agoura Hills, Ca 91376” (¶ 36).
At the trial, Olinka Morales testified she was employed by Strategic to manage the
property. She identified the rental lease agreement between Strategic and defendant noted
above. During cross-examination, Morales stated that Fabiola Mendoza and Beverly Jacobo
were also authorized to manage the property. She testified the business address for Strategic
was not the post office box address listed in the rental agreement, but rather a street address.