Owner Wins

Tenant Took Too Long to Send Renewal Notice

December 12, 2019    

What Happened: In 2016, a grocery store tenant tried to renew the 15-year lease it signed in 1999, but the landlord claimed that it was too late because the six-month renewal window had already expired. The issue: When did the lease actually begin? The landlord claimed...

Procedural Slips Doom Tenant’s Contract Claims Against Landlord

December 12, 2019    

What Happened: A tanning salon tenant sued its landlord for breach of contract but listed the wrong corporate name. Before the tenant could file an amended suit...

Tenant Accidentally Waives Its Co-Tenancy Rent Cut Rights

October 28, 2019    

What Happened: A shopping center lease let the tenant pay reduced rent if an anchor closed and wasn’t replaced within 120 days. In July 2016, an anchor tenant, Sports Authority, closed and the landlord didn’t find a replacement for nearly three years. But the tenant...

Landlord Not to Blame for Office Tenant’s Desktop Fall

October 28, 2019    

What Happened: After safely pulling off the stunt on several occasions, an office tenant who climbed onto his desk and used a broomstick to close hard-to-reach blinds fell to the floor and broke his spine. Blaming his injuries on the landlord’s failure to maintain the...

Must Tenant Pay Rent If Improvements Aren't Done Yet?

September 17, 2019    

What Happened...

Landlord Not to Blame for Tenant's Garbage Dumping Woes

September 17, 2019    

What Happened: After years of letting a pizzeria dump its trash in its alley, a neighboring property owner said no more and locked the gateway. At first, the...

Disposing of Tenant Property After Lawful Eviction Isn't Conversion

August 20, 2019    

What Happened: When the tenant and surety didn’t show up for the eviction proceeding, the court awarded the landlord default judgment. The landlord then sent the tenant and surety notice to collect their personal property and...

Lease Bars Tenant's Claims for Lost Profits During Renovation Work

August 20, 2019    

Section 7: [T]here shall be no allowance to Tenant for a diminution in rental value, and no liability on part of Landlord by reason of inconvenience, annoyance or injury to person(s), property or business arising from the making of...

Increasing Tenant's Real Estate Tax Share Isn't Fraud or Lease Violation

August 20, 2019    

What Happened: A shopping center lease requires the anchor tenants, which are also partial owners, to pay a fixed part of the property’s real estate taxes, and allocates the remaining tax liability to the non-owner tenants proportionally on the basis of square footage...

Tenant Responsible for Defective Sidewalk

July 21, 2019    

What Happened: The case began when a shopper tripped on the gap of a sidewalk outside a grocery store leased by Pathmark. Since the owner was now bankrupt, the victim’s case hinged on a single question: Was Pathmark, as tenant, liable for the defective sidewalk? Pathmark...

Not Constructive Eviction to Cut Tenant's Electricity If Lease Allows It

July 21, 2019    

What Happened: To the owner, this was an open-and-shut case: The fashion store tenant it evicted owed unpaid rent. To the tenant, it was more complicated than that. The tenant contended that the owner committed constructive eviction by cutting off its electricity. The court...

New Landlord Not Saddled with Rent Payment Waivers of Its Predecessor

June 24, 2019    

What Happened: A landlord sued to evict a physician tenant for not paying rent. While acknowledging that she was five months in arrears, the tenant noted that she had been allowed to pay late two years earlier without being charged late fees and that the landlord had thus waived...