What Happened: What happens when a tenant signs a five-year lease on a warehouse for use as an indoor cannabis cultivation facility but can’t get the necessary permits because the property doesn’t have an adequate fire sprinkler system? The tenant figured the...
What Happened: An office tenant moved out when quality testing of the air inside an office building revealed the presence of asbestos at unsafe levels. The landlord sued for unpaid rent, and the tenant countersued the landlord for negligence by undertaking repairs on the roof...
What Happened: A car wash tenant insisted that it had made an oral agreement with the previous landlord limiting its obligation to pay to fixed rent only. But the new landlord didn’t buy it and insisted that the tenant also pay operating expenses and taxes. Even if there...
What Happened: A Texas landlord leased a standalone building to a tenant for use as a restaurant. Even though the building needed a lot of work, the tenant accepted it “as is” without warranty of suitability for its intended restaurant use. The gamble came up snake...
What Happened: An office tenant first became disenchanted when the HVAC system failed and it had to install a new air conditioning unit at its own expense. Two years later, the landlord had to bring in a contractor to completely replace the building’s terra cotta façade....
What Happened: A Texas owner paid $60,000 for a warehouse back in 1999. In 2014, he leased the property to a welding firm. After a short lease term, the building remained empty for several years with the owner steadily investing in improvements for future rentals. But in 2018, a...
What Happened: After siding with the landlord on all claims, a New York court had one more issue to decide, namely, whether the lease clause requiring the tenant to pay 200 percent of base rent as holdover rent was enforceable. The tenant claimed that 200 percent was an...
What Happened: A lease required restaurant corporation tenant Crab House Ltd. to pay additional rent if it or any “affiliated company” were to open a competing business within a five-mile radius. A couple of years later, Crab House was acquired by Landry’s...
What Happened: A lease provided that it would expire in July 2016 unless the tenant exercised its renewal option. The tenant acknowledged that it never provided the required written notice but contended that it renewed via its conduct, noting that the landlord accepted its...
What Happened: A 70-year-old supermarket employee who just finished her shift stepped into a pothole while walking to her car. The workers comp board rejected her claim for benefits. Citing provisions in the supermarket’s lease making the landlord responsible for...
What Happened: Two years into its five-year term, a tenant leasing space for use as an airport hangar exercised its right to terminate early, without penalty, upon 180 days’ notice. The plan was for the tenant to remain in the space until the sides reached agreement on a...