Tenant Had Possession of Property Despite Not Moving In

What Happened: A medical clinic signed a multi-year lease on a three-story building requiring major renovations. After faithfully paying monthly rent for two years, the clinic stopped making its rent payments. The landlord sent a default notice giving the clinic five days to cure. But the clinic denied any liability since it never actually took possession of the premises and asked the court to dismiss the landlord’s eviction suit. The court refused and granted judgment in the landlord’s favor. The clinic appealed.

Ruling: The Massachusetts appeals court affirmed the lower court’s ruling.

Reasoning: The court found ample evidence that the clinic was in possession even though it never physically moved into the premises:

• The lease expressly acknowledged the clinic’s acceptance of “possession” as of the commencement date;
• It got the keys from the landlord and continued to have “unfettered access” to the property for three years; and
• It performed major improvements on the property, including the installation of awnings, telecom equipment, and security cameras.  

• Midamerica Props. v. Diagnosis Treatment Ctr., 2020 Mass. App. Div. LEXIS 30