If a tenant wishes to actively negotiate a settlement deal in Calif with a reluctant LandLord, is it Best to . . .?

If they have a lawyer then they likely will not talk to you. There is no negotiation for not paying rent. You either pay or you move. Pretty straight forward.

If you call your landlord, he will direct you to his attorney.

If it has gotten that far that the landlord has hired an attorney, you can expect to be evicted according to the laws for your state. So, start packing because you will be moving soon.

As per your other question You the tenant failed to pay your rent, given 3 extra days to pay or leave......... there is no 'negotiation' the rent is paid within those 3 days or you leave and if you failed to leave then the landlord will take you to court for breach of contract and the court will give the landlord a court order to evict you.

If the landlord has already hired an attorney, all communications are going to go through that person.

But you might get lucky and that person can reason with the landlord, thus not ending up with situation #4

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