Recently, a corporate client asked me to assist it in ascertaining whether it was properly handling the common area maintenance (CAM) charges under its lease with a triple net tenant, a national medical services provider. As I pored over the terms of the lease and reviewed its CAM provisions with my client, not for the first time did I wonder,
Latest from Daniel S. Gonzales - Page 2
Prolific ADA Litigant Shelved?
Back in 2019, I noted a spike in cases brought under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) against small businesses in Silicon Valley, and asked readers to share their experiences. The issue hit a nerve with a number of people, and so I followed up a few months later with another blog post that delved more deeply into the
Prop. 15: Time to switch off the “third rail” of California politics?
Here we go again!
My last article examined Proposition 19, one of the measures on the November 2020 ballot that seeks to modify Proposition 13, California’s sui generis real property tax law. My current article takes a look at Proposition 15, which would, if passed by the voters, establish the “split roll” that has long been sought by local
Free Virtual Gala (10/22/20) for Law Student Scholarships Presented by La Raza Lawyers of Santa Clara County Charitable Foundation
Ahora más que nunca—now more than ever—law students who seek to further the cause of justice need our support. While La Raza Lawyers of Santa Clara County Charitable Foundation cannot hold our usual fundraising gala this year for obvious reasons, we will still provide as much financial aid to deserving law students as we can. To that end, we have
Prop. 19: Making your assessed value more “portable,” but with a nasty twist
California’s unique real property tax system has been a regular feature in my blog since its beginnings. In particular, the intricacies of Proposition 13 and the adjustments that have been made to that pioneering program over the years have invited a significant amount of focus. As we approach the November 2020 election and the ballot measures to be
Residential Landlords Required Under AB3088 to Send Tenants Notice
Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB3088 on 8/31/20, setting forth guidelines for California residential landlords in order to preserve the right to later claim unpaid rent and/or evict tenants for unpaid rent, while protecting tenants demonstrating COVID-19 related financial hardship. The new law requires landlords who intend to seek damages from residential tenants who have missed rent between March 1, 2020
IRS relaxes Opportunity Zone requirements and other rules in response to COVID-19
The potential tax deferral benefits of Opportunity Zones for capital gains from the disposition of commercial real estate as an alternative to Section 1031 exchanges has been a recurring topic in this blog ever since that program was passed into law by Congress with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in late 2017. Since adoption of that tax plan,
George Floyd: A moment of truth and clarity
In the days since the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Americans of all backgrounds have been weighing in on this sad event and its aftermath, reverberating across our country from the streets of Fargo, North Dakota and Long Beach, California, to the corporate boardrooms of New York City and Silicon Valley. These responses seem to show that we may
Remember the California housing crisis? Judge rules that SB 35 bars the City of Los Altos from rejecting controversial project
It may now seem like a lifetime ago given the ubiquity and enormity of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on our everyday lives, but it has actually only been a few months since California’s chronic and acute shortage of housing had been monopolizing our attention. While we shelter in place and try to imagine what the world will look
Practical ideas for dealing with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on your commercial lease
One of the critical lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic is how quickly a situation can change, and how adaptable businesses must be in order to respond. Just three months ago, we were watching the Dow hit 29,000 for its fastest 1,000 point gain ever, and wondering whether our Silicon Valley economy might begin to slow down. Now, to