2
Outside the presence of the jury, defendant moved for nonsuit, claiming the action was
barred under section 1962, subdivision (c). Defendant argued section 1962 required the rental
agreement to disclose certain information for effecting personal service, and the evidence
presented in plaintiff’s case-in-chief established lack of compliance. Plaintiff countered that
section 1962 did not apply to the circumstances of this case. The court denied the motion.
Defendant testified Strategic became the “new landlord” in September 2015, and she had
contacts and communications with it concerning habitability issues pertaining to the property.
After the parties rested, defendant moved for a directed verdict based on plaintiff’s failure to
comply with section 1962. As before, plaintiff maintained the statute did not apply because it
only implicated “successor owners” and, in this instance, the parties had executed a new lease.
The court denied defendant’s motion.
The jury returned a verdict in favor of plaintiff, finding plaintiff served a valid three-day
notice and did not breach the warranty of habitability. Thereafter, defendant moved for
judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV), once again arguing plaintiff had not complied
with section 1962. The trial court denied the motion, stating, “The court finds that the owner,
plaintiff, through its management agent complied with the Code under 1962 for purposes of
notice.”
DISCUSSION
Defendant contends the court should have granted a nonsuit or issued a directed verdict
in her favor, and the court erred in denying her JNOV motion. (Code Civ. Proc., §§ 581c, 630,
629.)3
Motions for Nonsuit, Directed Verdict, and Judgment Notwithstanding the Verdict
“While made at different times, the three motions are analytically the same and governed
by the same rules. [Citation.] The function of these motions is to prevent the moving
defendant from the necessity of undergoing any further exposure to legal liability when there is
insufficient evidence for an adverse verdict. [Citation.] Put another way, the purpose of