Owner Loses

Tenant Not Obligated to Exercise Lease Option

September 17, 2015    

Facts: A bank tenant entered into two ground leases for properties on which to build a bank branch and parking lot, respectively. The tenant was responsible for procuring all necessary permits. The ground leases provided a contingency period—the “Approval Period...

Trial Needed to Determine Fraudulent Nondisclosure Claim

August 28, 2015    

Facts: A tenant negotiated two leases for space for two of its upscale restaurants at an Atlantic City, N.J., pier. The tenant was interested in the particular spaces because two other upscale restaurants had also signed leases for nearby space with the owner.

'Course of Conduct' Used to Clarify Ambiguous Lease

April 13, 2015    

Facts: Since the start of its lease with a tenant, a building owner paid for electricity for the tenant’s space and charged the tenant 50 percent of the cost as part of the additional rent due. The lease didn’t require the owner to provide electricity, it just...

Owner's Termination Right Wasn't 'Ongoing'

April 13, 2015    

Facts: When an anchor tenant closed its store at a shopping center, the cotenancy clause in a lease between an arts-and-crafts supply retailer and the center’s owner was triggered. When the owner had failed to obtain another anchor tenant after six months, the tenant...

Owner's Duty of Care Stemmed from 'Unusual' Lease Provisions

March 12, 2015    

Facts: The employee of a tenant who rented retail space was injured when a light fixture fell on her upper back and neck while she was working. The employee sued the owner. The owner asked a trial court for a judgment in its favor without a trial. The trial court granted the...

Owner Must Give Proper Notice for Fixture Removal

February 13, 2015    

Facts: An owner claimed that its restaurant tenant breached the lease by failing to remove “trade” fixtures before moving out. The tenant argued that it wasn’t required to remove the fixtures because the owner hadn’t complied with the lease terms...

Tenant Is 'Prevailing Party' Under Fee-Shifting Provisions

January 16, 2015    

Facts: A retail lease provided that attorney’s fees and expenses would be awarded to the prevailing party in “any dispute” between the owner and tenant arising out of the use or occupancy of the space. The owner later sued the tenant for several claims...

Farmer's Market 'Stalls' Violated Supermarket's Restrictive Use

January 16, 2015    

Facts: The lease between a shopping center owner and a supermarket tenant contained a restrictive-use covenant prohibiting the owner from leasing space to another grocery store or “food market.” The lease defined food market to include any vendor selling food items....

Tenant Not Responsible for Management Fees

September 29, 2014    

Facts: A bank tenant signed a triple-net lease for a standalone building in a shopping center. (Under a typical "triple-net" lease, the tenant pays all expenses, including property taxes and insurance, maintenance, and utilities, leaving the owner with no expense...

Tenant Didn't Have to Pay Expenses for Out-of-State Surveyor

September 29, 2014    

Facts: A bookstore tenant filed for bankruptcy. During the bankruptcy proceedings regarding whether its lease would be rejected or assumed, the owner sent the tenant a notice requesting access to the tenant’s space to perform an “as-built” survey of the space...

Lease Guaranty Not Enforceable Without Signature of Guarantor

July 25, 2014    

Facts: After an office tenant held over its space past its lease term and stopped paying rent, the owner sued the tenant’s president in his personal capacity, asserting that he was a guarantor of the lease and thus was responsible for paying the rent when the tenant...

Lease Excuses Tenant from Liability for Fire

June 25, 2014    

Facts: A dry cleaning business in a shopping center incorrectly installed commercial dryers in its space without using a professionally trained installer. It vented the dryers into the attic instead of to the building’s exterior. The shoddy installation later caused a fire...