Millikan

Defendant contends that when a landlord sells leased property after the tenant has abandoned the lease, the landlord may not recover from the tenant expenses incurred in selling the property. We conclude the law does not impose that blanket prohibition. Instead, the landlord’s entitlement to recover selling expenses from a breaching tenant depends upon the evidence adduced in a particular case, as is true with respect to other expenses incurred by the landlord in mitigating damages, and as is true generally when calculating damages from breach of contract. In this case, substantial evidence supports the court’s award of selling expenses to the landlord. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Defendant, American Spectrum Real Estate Services California, Inc. (defendant), entered into a lease with plaintiff, Jack W. Millikan, as trustee of the Millikan Family Trust/MEP (plaintiff), by which defendant leased an entire office building from plaintiff for a term of five years commencing on December 22, 1998. After only three years, defendant abandoned the property, making its last rent payment for the month of December 2001. The unfulfilled lease…