Plaza Freeway Limited Partnership v. First Mountain Bank

A commercial lease required the tenant to certify lease terms in writing to any future property purchaser and to give notice of any renewal at least one year before the lease's expiration; when Chartered Pension Investors sold the property to Plaza Freeway Limited Partnership (plaintiff) in 1992, it presented First Mountain Bank (defendant), the successor tenant, with an estoppel certificate stating the lease ran from November 1, 1973 to October 31, 1998, which the bank signed without modification. In January 1996, the bank sent a renewal notice, but Plaza rejected it as untimely under the certificate's October 31, 1998 expiration date; the bank stayed past that date, Plaza sued for unlawful detainer, and the trial court ruled for the bank, finding the actual lease term ran until June 30, 1999 despite the certificate's contents. Plaza appealed.