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James L.L. Barton, P.G. April 13. 2007 Page 5of14 (and reported by Interstate Brands). By the time that my client inherited the property. the property had been leased to commercial tenants in a "triple net' lease tor 45 years. We have no idea whether Interstate Brands in 1988 reported the soil contamination to my client's mother(from whom my client inherited the property). We do know that Interstate Brands never reported the contamination to my client. My client was justified in relying on the"triple net" tenant. Interstate Brands Corporation. as long as my client owned the property. She fulfilled any duty or responsibility she personally had to the State of California and/or San Joaquin County by the fact that Interstate Brands was legally obligated to—and (lid —investigate and respond to the contamination for many years. 2. Interstate Brands Corporation never shared with my client any information front its 45 years of tenancy about the installation of the UST, its use, or the response activities of Interstate. My client was entitled to rely on the fact that Interstate Brands Corporation, which had created the contamination, was investigating and responding to any resulting nuisance until five years after my client sold the propern,. When my client inherited the property interstate Brands Corporation was the tenant under a 1954 lease. A copy of the lease.is enclosed as Exhibit 1. The 1954 lease was to Langendorf United Bakeries. Inc. The lease included all buildings and improvements. and all rights, privileges. easements. and appurtenances belonging to the property. Langendorf agreed. in addition to paying the rent. to pay all taxes,insurance. and maintenance. in other words, it agreed to be responsible for all costs normally associated with ownership of the property. This is a typical "triple net" lease used throughout California from before 1954. (These are called "triple net" leases because the tenant is responsible for net taxes, net insurance, and net maintenance.) As explained in a leading treatise on real estate: `¶7 35. Net lease'—allocated to tenant: The term 'net'or'triple net' means the tenant is responsible for most(or all)of the costs normally associated with ownership of the property. In economic terms, under a net lease, the landlord 'foregoes the speculative advantages of ownership in return for the agreed net rental'; the tenant, in exchange, 'gambles on the continued value of the location and the improvement[s] ... and assumes all risks in connection therewith.' [Brown v. Green(1994)8 C4th 812, 826-828, 35 CR2d 598, 607-608(internal quotes omitted); ...Under a 'triple net lease,' all operating costs are the tenant's obligation."