Defendant entered into a 10-year lease with an automatic 10-year renewal before the prior owner of the building sold it to MES. Even though defendant’s lease was not recorded, MES took subject to the lease since it had actual knowledge of the lease before it bought the building. (Civ. Code 1217.) Since the lease was a conveyance expressly made effective against MES by Civ. Code 1217, defendant didn’t have to show that equities favored enforcement. The automatic renewal term of the lease was not invalidated by Civ. Code 1945.5. That section applies only to residential leases. While defendant’s lease was in an apartment building, it was a commercial lease for use of the laundry room of the apartment building, not for any space used as a residence.