Owner Wins

Tenant with Stairwell Access Could Not Terminate Over Broken Elevator

July 25, 2010    

Facts: A garment manufacturer tenant signed a lease for the seventh-floor of a building. The tenant and owner acknowledged that because the building's elevator was undergoing renovations, it might not be available for service at the start of the lease term. To account for the possible...

Similar Trade Names Violated Competition Clause

June 29, 2010    

Facts: A shoe store tenant signed a 10-year lease with a mall. Under the lease, the tenant was required to pay minimum monthly rent plus 5 percent of its annual gross sales over $1.1 million. A “kickout” provision in the lease allowed the tenant to terminate it early if the...

Owner Not Liable for Tenant's Dangerous Condition

May 31, 2010    

Facts: A restaurant that specialized in tea and tea-related merchandise rented space in a building from an out-of-possession owner that had a right under the lease to access the premises for making structural repairs. Prior to the restaurant's tenancy, there had been no service...

Tenant on Hook for Failure to Obtain Insurance

February 26, 2010    

Facts: A restaurant customer was injured when he tripped and fell on a defective sidewalk abutting the restaurant. The property on which the restaurant was located was owned by a realty company that leased the space to it under a lease agreement and a rider to the lease agreement.

Tenant Wasn't Ready, Willing, and Able to Buy Building

February 1, 2010    

Facts: A tenant leased space in a commercial building for its manufacturing company. The lease contained an option to buy the property at any time during the tenancy for $350,000. The option also provided that the closing of title was to take place within 90 days of the tenant's...

Owner Entitled to Full Rent for Abandoned Buildings

February 1, 2010    

Facts: An owner sued a tenant for breaching its two leases after the tenant abandoned both of the owner's buildings that it rented and refused to pay the remaining rent due under the leases. After the tenant failed to appear at two summary dispossess proceedings for nonpayment of rent...

Township Immune from Municipal Parking Lot Lawsuit

December 28, 2009    

Facts: A woman slipped and fell on a large patch of ice in a municipal parking lot while walking to her car. The ice patch had formed as a result of water running downgrade from melting snow piled near the parked cars, and then freezing.

The woman sued the township for negligence,...

Shopping Center Needing Numerous Repairs Not in “Good Condition”

December 28, 2009    

Facts: Two owners of a shopping center alleged that a tenant defaulted on the lease because she allowed the property to fall into a deteriorated condition. The tenant refused to relinquish the premises after the termination of the lease, and the owners were forced to file an “...

Tenant Was Not Constructively Evicted

November 23, 2009    

Facts: A tenant operated her floral shop out of a shopping center under a three-year lease with the center's owner. After another owner bought the shopping center, the tenant agreed to extend her lease by five years. The lease extension agreement stated that the original lease would...

Owner Entitled to Replace Store with Noncompetitor

October 31, 2009    

Facts: The lease between a family shoe store and a mall owner included a “competing business” provision under which the owner was prohibited from leasing to any other shoe stores substantially similar to and/or competitive with the tenant. This included other “family...

Specific Performance Compelled Only for Terms Spelled Out in Lease

October 18, 2009    

Facts: A property owner leased space to a tenant for its hardware store. The lease contained an “option to purchase” clause that provided a payment timeline for the tenant to follow in the event that it wanted to purchase the space in the future.

Right to Nonexclusive Use of Parking Spaces Doesn't Include Long-Term Storage of Equipment

October 18, 2009    

Facts: The owners of a shopping center sued the anchor tenant, a grocery store, after a dispute arose over the tenant's use of common areas behind the store. The trial court found that the tenant violated its lease by placing large, seasonal storage containers in the center's...