SERVICE OF 3-DAY NOTICE ON A CORPORATE TENANT
The first step in evicting a corporate tenant is to prepare a 3-Day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit. CCP § 1161, 1162. When the tenant is a corporation, as opposed to an individual, preparing and serving the notice can be tricky.
While the tenant may be ABC Corporation, addressing the notice solely to ABC Corporation may not be sufficient. To serve a corporation, you must serve one of the people designated by Code of Civil Procedure § 416.10. These people are the designated agent for the service of process, the president, the vice president, a secretary or assistant secretary, a treasurer or assistant treasurer, a general manager, or a person authorized by the corporation to receive service of process. Thus, when addressing the 3-Day Notice, it is always best to have one of these designated people named, as well as the corporation. Although the 3-Day Notice should make clear that the rent is owed by the corporation, it should be addressed to the corporation c/o or attention one of the foregoing designated people.
Once the 3-Day Notice has been prepared, it must be served in accordance with Code of Civil Procedure § 1162. That section provides for three methods of service. The first is by delivering it personally to one of the persons authorized by Code of Civil Procedure § 416.10, as noted above. If that person cannot be found, the second method is to leave a copy of the 3-Day Notice with a person of suitable age and discretion at the premises and then mail it to the tenant’s residence. That would mean that the notice would have to be mailed to the residence of one of the people designated above. Mailing to the corporation’s home office may not be sufficient. Commercial landlords often do not have the residential address of the officers of the corporation. Thus, this second method of service may not be practical.
The third method of service is available if the place of residence cannot be ascertained. In such an event, the 3-Day Notice should be posted “in a conspicuous place on the property” and given to a person of suitable age and discretion on the premises, should such person be present. The notice must then be mailed to the corporation, attention one of designated people, at the place where the property is situated.
Thus, if personal service cannot be obtained on a qualified individual for the corporation, and you do not have a residential address for a qualified individual, service should be made by posting the notice and mailing to the tenant at the premises’ address. Do not forget to give a copy of the notice to any person of suitable age and discretion that may be present when it is posted.
