Building's Buyer Can't Challenge Lease Amendment

After a buyer signed a contract to buy an office building, the building's current owner amended a tenant's lease. In the lease amendment, the owner agreed to increase the tenant's renewal option, limit the tenant's rent increases, and waive the tenant's rent for several months after the closing on the building's sale. The buyer found out about the lease amendment and asked that it be “rescinded—that is, voided. The owner refused. So the buyer sued the owner and tenant, asking the court to declare the lease amendment void.

A Florida appeals court ruled that the buyer couldn't challenge the lease amendment. Because the buyer wasn't a party to the lease amendment, it had no right to challenge it, the court explained. Also, because the buyer hadn't complied with the sale contract's requirements and didn't show that it was “ready, willing, and able” to buy the building, it didn't have any rights to the building that would be affected by the lease amendment, the court noted [Arvesu v. Blancom Properties NV].