Owner Wins

Owner of Unleased Commercial Property Can Testify about Its Fair Market Value

January 26, 2022    

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...

Is Holdover Rent of 200% of Base Rent a Valid Liquid Damages Provision?

January 26, 2022    

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...

Tenant’s Duty to Pay Extra Rent for Opening Competing Business Covers Future Affiliates

December 22, 2021    

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...

Tenant Can't Renew by Conduct When Lease Requires Renewal by Written Notice

December 22, 2021    

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...

Tenant's Control of Parking Lot Makes Accident Work-Related

November 23, 2021    

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...

Expedited Holdover Eviction Available Even When Lease Terminates Early

November 23, 2021    

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...

Temporary COVID Closure Order Doesn’t Excuse Tenant’s Failure to Pay Rent

November 23, 2021    

What Happened: A fitness center tenant that had to close down temporarily in response to the governor’s COVID-19 pandemic closure orders remained in its space but didn’t pay rent for the time it was closed. The landlord sued, and the tenant relied on the lease force...

No Trial Needed to Rule that Assignee Breached Lease

October 18, 2021    

What Happened: Less than six months after assuming the responsibilities of the lease from the previous tenant, the assignee notified the landlord that it planned to close its furniture rental store. When it became clear that the assignee wasn’t going to pay the remaining...

Landlord Not on the Hook for Construction Defects in Improvements

September 21, 2021    

What Happened: Under a “build to suit” lease, a landlord purchased a property, made a construction contract with a builder...

Mold that Could’ve Been Discovered ≠ Breach of Implied Warranty of Suitability

September 21, 2021    

What Happened: Upon taking possession of the premises she had just leased for use as a daycare center, a tenant detected a strange odor. It turned out to be mold, and the environmental consultant’s report showed that it was all over the walls and in the carpeting of the...

Arbitrator Went Too Far in Awarding Tenant Lost Profits

August 24, 2021    

What Happened: After waiting a year and a half, the tenant claimed that the landlord was in violation of its lease duty to complete the repairs necessary to make the 10,000 square feet of leased space suitable for use as a laser tag/pizzeria establishment. As provided under the...

Just Because Lights Are Easy to Remove Doesn’t Mean They’re Not Fixtures

August 24, 2021    

What Happened: Nobody had any issue with the auto dealer’s removal of the “Ford” sign it had installed on the lot at its own expense and owned. But the tenant also took away six large light stands when its lease came to an end. The landlord claimed that the...