Can a commercial lease to be terminated via e-mail ?

If the lease provides for "written notice," an email should suffice unless you can come up with reason why an email is somehow unfair or confusing.

The general rule for commercial leases is that the rights of the parties is governed primarily by the terms of the lease agreement. In California, an electronic mail can be considered a writing under the law; but, it is not sufficient to constitute the legal requirements of a 3/30/60/90 day notices in California. However, these notices should be distinguished from courtesy notices that are included as part of a lease. The requirements for the above-mentioned notices are different under the lease agreement unless the terms of the lease say other wise. While the lease may say "written letter 60 days in advance as notice of intent to not renew," an email is written and there has been well-settled law in California that treats electronic communications as effective writings. On the other hand, if the applicable term goes along the lines of: "written notice within 60 days pursuant to ," then there is an argument that the writing must also be properly written and served pursuant to the applicable notice statutes. That being said, unless service was specified in the lease, the former situation applies, and a landlord can provide that notice in any way so long as the shape of the notice is a writing. If your commercial lease is a fixed one, and the termination date is upcoming, then the notice serves little more than as a courtesy notice that the tenancy is being terminated and likely that the landlord does not intend to renew/renegotiate the lease. Because this is a complicated area of law that relies heavily on an experienced commercial landlord-tenant attorney, I highly recommend you seek one in the LA area who can better advise you as to your rights. Though I recommend you review your lease first and maybe work things out informally with your landlord.

Generally speaking, an email can suffice as written notice. However, your lease agreement may require you to send a letter to a physical mailing address.