What Happened: In 1990, a real estate developer signed a 99-year lease on property in Boca Raton on which it intended to build a shopping center. The lease fixed rent at $280,000 for years 2 through 29, and $910,000 per year after that; it also gave the developer the right to...
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: After warning that its business was struggling, a restaurant tenant paid only half the rent on June 1. Two weeks later, it closed the restaurant. When its demands for full rent went unheeded, the landlord changed the locks and re-entered the premises on June 24....
What Happened: A landlord and tenant hired a contractor to construct improvements on a leased movie theater. The subcontractor that installed the drywalls recorded a lien for the work and sought to foreclose when it didn’t get paid. The landlord asked the court to dismiss...
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...
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...
