Carma Developers Inc. V. Marathon Development California Inc‪.‬

At issue here is the validity of a provision in a commercial lease allowing the lessor to terminate the lease and recapture the leasehold upon notice by the lessee of intent to sublet or assign. Such a provision was included in a 10-year lease of office space between the parties to this appeal. Several years into the lease term the lessee, plaintiff and appellant Carma Developers (California), Inc. (Carma), gave notice of intent to sublease 80 percent of the demised premises. The lessor, defendant and appellant Marathon Development California, Inc. (Marathon), responded by exercising its right of termination and recapture in order to receive the benefit of the increased rental value of the leasehold.