338 South Avenue 16 v. Meyer CA2/5

I. INTRODUCTION

338 South Avenue 16, LLC (plaintiff) brought an action against Michael Meyer (Meyer) and Lamont Roberts (Roberts) (together, defendants) for breach of contract and common counts for alleged violations of a commercial lease. Following a bench trial, the trial court entered judgment in favor of plaintiff on the breach of contract cause of action and in favor defendants on the common counts cause of action. The court awarded plaintiff $133,360.60 against defendants, and defendants appeal.

II. BACKGROUND

A. The Lease

On August 15, 2016, under an “AIR Commercial Real Estate Association Standard Industrial/Commercial Multi- Tenant Lease—Gross” (Lease), defendants leased from plaintiff 3,502 square feet of space at 381 South Avenue 17 in Los Angeles (the Premises).1 The lease was for a five-year term commencing on August 22, 2016, with monthly rent of $4,027.30. The “Agreed Use” for the Premises was “[f]ilm production, warehouse and creative office space, and for no other use or purpose.”

Plaintiff owned several adjoining units on South Avenue 16 and South Avenue 17, including the Premises. Plaintiff “designated” the Premises’ address as 381 South…