Owner Wins

Personal Lease Guaranty Was Ambiguous

March 26, 2014    

Facts: A coffee shop tenant signed a lease for space in a strip mall, and signed a personal guaranty, promising that he would be financially responsible if the lease were defaulted on. The tenant later sold the coffee shop. When the new coffee shop tenant stopped paying rent,...

Defect Must Be Latent to Defeat As-Is Lease

March 26, 2014    

Facts: The state health department forced a frozen yogurt shop tenant to suspend its operations until the waste water system for its space in a strip mall complied with state requirements. The tenant, who was unaware that its water system was inadequate, complained to the owner...

Owner Didn't Waive Early Termination Provisions

February 26, 2014    

Facts: A lease for storage space for casino equipment gave the tenant an early termination right, provided that it sent a letter in writing to the owner and paid a termination fee by a certain date. During a phone call shortly before the early termination deadline, the tenant...

Tenant Must Pay Rent During Reduced Occupancy Period

February 26, 2014    

Facts: A retail tenant’s lease for shopping center space gave it the right to stop operating for a “reduced occupancy period” if a major co-tenant left the center until it was replaced. While a reduced occupancy period was in effect, the tenant decided to...

Owner Not Liable for Tenant’s Flood Damage

January 28, 2014    

Facts: The shopping center where a general store-type tenant rented space was damaged when the area experienced flooding. The tenant sued the owner of the shopping center, among other parties including the adjacent tenant (a grocery store) and the Federal Emergency Management...

Sublease Shifted Maintenance Obligation to Tenant

November 22, 2013    

Facts: A tenant that rented five floors of an office building and the attached parking garage sublet the garage space to a parking garage operator. The owner later discovered water damage in the garage. It sued the tenant, asserting that the tenant was obligated under the lease...

Owner Didn't Waive Right to Collect Taxes

October 25, 2013    

Facts: A tenant rented space for its bakery in a shopping center. After the tenant moved out of the space, the center’s owner demanded that it pay real estate taxes and operating expenses incurred while it still occupied its space, plus the cost of restoring the space...

Trial Needed to Determine Whether Consent Was Unreasonably Withheld

October 25, 2013    

Facts: A building with residential space for a cooperative (plaintiff) and commercial space on the ground floor that the plaintiff leased to 11 tenants was located in an historic district, meaning that changes could be made to its exterior only with the approval of a...

Government Appropriation Trumps Tenant’s Option to Purchase

June 20, 2013    

Facts: A trust that owned property that had been used as retail space signed a lease with a tenant that planned to use the space as a fast-casual restaurant. The lease gave the tenant the option to purchase the property at any time for $110,000. The tenant spent $300,000 on...

Radius Restriction Is Reasonable Restraint on Tenant’s Business

June 20, 2013    

Facts: A commercial developer sought an anchor tenant for the mall it was building. As an inducement to attract a certain national big-box retailer, the developer signed a purchase and sale agreement with the tenant. Under the agreement, the developer agreed to sell 27 acres to...

Lease Guarantors’ Evidence Must Be More Than “Speculative”

May 23, 2013    

Facts: A shopping center tenant breached its lease with the owner. The owner sued the two guarantors of the lease. The guarantors both argued to the trial court that they had been fraudulently induced to enter into the lease by the center’s previous owner. They also sought...

Jury Trial Needed to Determine Ambiguous Lease Terms

May 23, 2013    

Facts: A national sunglass store rented 500 feet of space in a mall. The mall owner’s lease with the tenant required the tenant to pay on the first day of each calendar month “minimum rent, without any deduction or setoff” in an amount set forth in a schedule...