Owner Can't Require Tenant to Remove Pre-Occupancy Improvements

Facts: A warehouse owner made improvements to the property before the tenant moved in. During the tenant's lease term, the owner sold the property. Toward the end of the lease term, the new owner asked the tenant to remove the improvements, but the tenant refused. The new owner sued the tenant. The trial court ruled for the tenant, without a trial. The new owner appealed.

Decision: A Georgia appeals court upheld the trial court's decision.

Reasoning: The court said it was undisputed that the former owner had made the improvements before the tenant took occupancy, and that the tenant was responsible only for returning the property in the same condition as when the tenant moved in. The court also said that the new owner could not require the tenant to remove the improvements, because the lease prohibited the tenant from removing specific improvements. The court also said that the new owner was required to show that no other tenant could make use of these improvements, which it failed to do.

• Ranwal Properties, LLC v. John H. Harland Co.: A07A0835, 2007 Ga. App. LEXIS 571 (Ga. Ct. App. 1st Div. 5/24/07).

Sidebar

Lesson Learned: Eviction proceedings are not legal actions based on any terms in a property lease. These proceedings are separate from all of the lease terms, and a court is free to look beyond those terms for a resolution.

Lesson Learned: An owner cannot require a tenant to remove improvements that existed before the tenant took occupancy.