

Landlord Retaliation
California Civil Code § 1942.5 prevents a landlord from retaliatory eviction. In this way, it is unlawful for a landlord to increase rent, decrease services (such as laundry room usage, for example), or any other types of actions deemed retaliatory that would in effect be punishing the tenant. Moreover, a landlord may not try and evict a tenant because the tenant has sought to exercise a legal right, or has complained about a problem in the rental unit as explained by the Cal


CA Corporation v. LLC, What is the Difference?
A business entity may be formed in California by filing the applicable documents with the Secretary of State. To create a Corporation, an Articles of Incorporation Form must be filed. To create a Limited Liability Company ("LLC"), an Articles of Organization, or Form LLC-1, must be filed. Once the business is formed it must be registered with the Secretary of State for its necessary license along with a Fictitious Business Name. But what is the difference between a Corporatio


California Equitable Easements
Equitable easements are implied easements created in equity. They are decided according to the doctrine of relative hardships. This allows for a court to conduct a balancing test to determine whether granting an easement would cause more or less hardship to the parties. In Tashakori v. Lakis, 196 Cal.App.4th. 1003 (2011), the court set forth a 3 factor test to determine when an equitable easement applies to landlocked properties. Landlocked properties are those where there is


Totten Trusts
A Savings Account Trust (also called a ‘tentative trust’ or ‘Totten Trust’ named after the case In Re Totten, 71 N.E. 748 (N.Y. 1904)) is a form of multiple-party bank accounts where a person deposits funds in the depositor’s name as trustee for another person. Totten trusts are valid, by case law or statute, in the majority of jurisdictions. Such trusts are not considered part of a deceased person's estate and thus will not be passed through probate or calculated into estate