McGill

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. The complaint On August 14, 2017, McGill signed a residential lease agreement (lease) for an apartment located in Lompoc, California. FPI signed the lease “on behalf of, and as designated agent for” the owner, Woodstone by Vintage, L.P. (Woodstone).2 The lease states that it is an agreement “made and entered into as of August 14, 2017 by and between the [Owner] . . . and the . . . [Residents].” McGill alleged that certain provisions in the lease appeared to be illegal under Civil Code section 1953, including paragraph 5, entitled “Late Payments and Fees.” Paragraph 5 of the lease, which was attached as an exhibit to the complaint, reads in pertinent part: “Owner and Residents agree that it is and will be impracticable and extremely difficult to fix the actual damages suffered by Owner in the event Residents make a late payment of rent, or when Residents make a payment that is subsequently dishonored by the bank, and that the below charges represent a reasonable approximation of the damages Owner is likely to suffer from a late or dishonored payment. . . . [¶] . . . If Owner has not received the full rent payment within 2 day(s) after it…