Lease Didn't Have Valid Renewal para

A retail lease gave the tenant a five-year renewal option “at a rate negotiable at the time of renewal.” Because the tenant wished to renew the lease, it asked the owner to finalize the terms of the renewal option. But the owner declined to do so. After the original lease period expired, the owner proposed a rent amount for the renewal period, which the tenant rejected. Then the owner tried to evict the tenant, but the tenant said that it had changed its mind and agreed to the proposed rent amount. So the tenant argued that it shouldn't be evicted, because it had exercised its renewal option.

A Connecticut court ruled that the renewal option was invalid. The court noted that the renewal option was missing a key element—that is, the amount of rent due during the renewal period. Without that key element, the renewal option wasn't legally binding on the parties. And since the parties failed to finalize a rent amount for the renewal period before the owner started the eviction action, the tenant must now move out of its space [LaQuerre v. Singh].