Owner Wins, Owner Loses

Landlord Not to Blame for Tenant's Garbage Dumping Woes

September 17, 2019    

What Happened: After years of letting a pizzeria dump its trash in its alley, a neighboring property owner said no more and locked the gateway. At first, the...

Disposing of Tenant Property After Lawful Eviction Isn't Conversion

August 20, 2019    

What Happened: When the tenant and surety didn’t show up for the eviction proceeding, the court awarded the landlord default judgment. The landlord then sent the tenant and surety notice to collect their personal property and...

Lease Bars Tenant's Claims for Lost Profits During Renovation Work

August 20, 2019    

Section 7: [T]here shall be no allowance to Tenant for a diminution in rental value, and no liability on part of Landlord by reason of inconvenience, annoyance or injury to person(s), property or business arising from the making of...

Increasing Tenant's Real Estate Tax Share Isn't Fraud or Lease Violation

August 20, 2019    

What Happened: A shopping center lease requires the anchor tenants, which are also partial owners, to pay a fixed part of the property’s real estate taxes, and allocates the remaining tax liability to the non-owner tenants proportionally on the basis of square footage...

Loss of Shopping Center Tenant Triggers Co-Tenancy Rent Cut

July 21, 2019    

What Happened: A shopping center lease contained a co-tenancy clause giving a tenant a reduced rent if occupancy by major retail tenants fell below 70 percent....

Tenant Responsible for Defective Sidewalk

July 21, 2019    

What Happened: The case began when a shopper tripped on the gap of a sidewalk outside a grocery store leased by Pathmark. Since the owner was now bankrupt, the victim’s case hinged on a single question: Was Pathmark, as tenant, liable for the defective sidewalk? Pathmark...

Owner Wrongfully Withheld Tenant's Security Deposit

July 21, 2019    

What Happened: After 30 years of running a Dunkin’ Donuts out of the space, a tenant decided not to renew the lease. The tenant left the space broom-clean and removed all the counters, shelving, display cases, and doughnut shop-related furniture. The owner claimed the...

Not Constructive Eviction to Cut Tenant's Electricity If Lease Allows It

July 21, 2019    

What Happened: To the owner, this was an open-and-shut case: The fashion store tenant it evicted owed unpaid rent. To the tenant, it was more complicated than that. The tenant contended that the owner committed constructive eviction by cutting off its electricity. The court...

Landlord Must Pay Tenant’s Attorney’s Fees

June 24, 2019    

What Happened: After bringing a successful anticipatory breach claim...

Landlord Can’t Sue Wal-Mart for Backing Out of Lease Negotiations

June 24, 2019    

What Happened: After years of fruitless negotiations, Wal-Mart decided to pull out of discussions for a long-term ground lease but didn’t notify the would-be landlord until months later. Having invested so much time and money in trying to secure the ground lease, the...

New Landlord Not Saddled with Rent Payment Waivers of Its Predecessor

June 24, 2019    

What Happened: A landlord sued to evict a physician tenant for not paying rent. While acknowledging that she was five months in arrears, the tenant noted that she had been allowed to pay late two years earlier without being charged late fees and that the landlord had thus waived...

No Lawsuit Until Landlord Gets Chance to Stop One Tenant from Violating Another’s Exclusive

June 24, 2019    

What Happened: A Colorado shopping center leased 7,000 square feet of space to a tenant “for the purposes of operating indoor golf simulators, to include the sale of golf-related apparel, a ‘fast casual...