Balassy v. Superior Court

Opinion

WOODS, P. J.

This proceeding in mandate presents the question whether a trial court in an unlawful detainer action has jurisdiction to condition entry of judgment for lessee’s possession upon his immediate payment of pendente lite rents, when the lessor has failed to prove unlawful detainer.

As we explain in the following discussion, a trial court has no such jurisdiction.

The facts are simple and not in material dispute.1 After service of a 30-day statutory notice of termination of tenancy, landlord commenced an unlawful detainer action in municipal court based exclusively on the theory…