Renewal Notice Dropped Through Owner's Mail Slot Wasn't Effective

A lease gave the tenant a renewal option. To exercise this option, the tenant had to give the owner a renewal notice, either in person or by certified mail. The tenant had an employee drop the renewal notice through the owner's office mail slot after-hours. After the time period for exercising the option had expired, the owner told the tenant it expected it to move out at the end of the lease term. When the tenant failed to do so, the owner sued to evict it.

A California appeals court ruled that the renewal option hadn't been properly exercised. Dropping the renewal notice through the owner's mail slot after-hours wasn't effective service. The court distinguished routine notices from “more consequential” notices such as the renewal notice, which is a “one-time notice [that] is uniquely important to both parties.” The court noted that personal service or certified mail were the designated service methods for a renewal notice because these methods increased the likelihood the owner would actually get the notice. The court rejected the tenant's argument that its service of the renewal notice was sufficient because the owner accepted its rent checks by this method [Westlake Dev. Co., Inc. v. Shaw].