On June 30, 2011, the California Supreme Court unanimously held in Sullivan v. Oracle (S170577) that: (1) California's overtime laws do in fact apply to nonresident employees who work in California, even temporarily; (2) that failure to pay overtime wages to nonresidents employed in California can form a basis of an a Business and Professions Code Section [...]

Like many residential property owners who have found themselves underwater and facing foreclosure, many owners of commercial buildings are also having trouble keeping up on their mortgage payments. Consequently, a commercial tenant may be asked to pay a bank/lender the rent. What should the tenant do?

California Civil Code Section 2938 provides that, under certain circumstances, [...]

The Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Prevention Act of 2010 requires all single family dwellings that have either (1) a fossil fuel-burning heater, appliance or fireplace (e.g., a gas stove or water heater) or (2) an attached garage to have an approved carbon monoxide alarm installed outside the bedrooms but in their immediate vicinity (e.g. hallway), and an additional carbon monoxide alarm on each level of the home including the basement (if any).

To be approved, the carbon monoxide alarm must be certified. The [...]

A bad check is a check the bank will not honor. There are two kinds of bad checks: (1) checks marked Non-Sufficient Funds (NSF), which occur when there is not enough money in the account to cover the check; and (2) checks returned because the maker issued a Stop Payment order, which occurs when the account holder instructs the bank to stop [...]

On July 8, 2011, Governor Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 221 into law. SB 221 increases the Small Claims Court jurisdictional limit from $7,500 to $10,000 with two caveats. First, the jurisdictional limit of the Small Claims Court will remain $7,500 for claims of bodily injury resulting from a car accident if the defendant in the action is insured and the insured's policy includes a duty to defend. Second, the Small Claims jurisdictional limit will remain $5,000 for suits brought by entities such as corporations, [...]