Jury Must Decide if Termination Is Tenant's Only Remedy

A lease barred the owner from selling any part of the center to any party planning to operate a video store there. The lease said that if the owner did so, the tenant could terminate the lease. The owner sold an outparcel in the center to a party that was going to operate a video store there. The tenant sued the owner for damages, claiming that it had violated the lease. The owner argued that the tenant's only remedy is termination of the lease.

An Ohio appeals court ruled that a jury must decide if the tenant could sue for damages or if termination of the lease is its only remedy. The court noted that limitations-of-remedies clauses aren't favored, so the parties’ intent to make a specific remedy exclusive must be clear. Here, the lease language isn't clear as to whether termination is the tenant's only remedy, so a jury must decide its meaning, the court said [M.G.A., Inc. v. Amelia Station, Ltd.].