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What Happened: As courts continue to routinely reject force majeure, impossibility, frustration of purpose, and other defenses, it’s hardly surprising that retail tenants would come up with new theories to excuse their failure to pay rent during COVID-19 shutdowns. The fitness center tenant in this case contended that being barred from operating during the shutdown constituted a violation of the landlord’s covenant and warranty of quiet enjo...

What Happened: Seven years into its 10-year lease, a restaurant decided to permanently shut down its business and surrender the premises to the shopping center landlord. The key question: Did the landlord actually accept the surrender? The landlord claimed it did no such thing and sued the tenant for past-due rent and rent remaining on the lease. The tenant won the first round when the trial court ruled that in taking exclusive control over the premises...

What Happened: In January 2021, a tenant signed an offer to purchase the building with closing to occur within 45 days. But after six months of unsuccessful negotiation, the deal fell through. The landlord then sued to evict the tenant for failing to pay rent for the period after the first three months of negotiations. The tenant claimed that the sides had orally modified the lease to relieve it of its duty to pay rent through closing (except for during...

What Happened: A restaurant exercised its renewal option but furnished notice only after the option period had expired. A month later, the landlord sold the property and notified the new owner that the restaurant’s tenancy was now month to month. The tenant sent the next month’s rent check, but the new owner didn’t cash it and gave the tenant a 30-day termination notice. When the tenant didn’t vacate, the owner went to court to e...

What Happened: A landlord got agita after reading in the local newspaper that its tenant, the local Golden Corral restaurant, had closed down. Upon finding the property apparently abandoned and in very dirty condition, it changed the locks. It then sent the tenant a notice to cure the breach—that is, nonpayment of rent—within 15 days. When the tenant didn’t pay up, it terminated the lease and sued for breach of contract.

What Happened: The landlord and tenant performed a massive buildout to make the more than 100,000 square feet of office space leased suitable for a financial services firm with “immense computing power” and infrastructure needs. Once the 15-year lease expired, the question arose of who was responsible for restoring the space to its original condition. Citing lease language giving the landlord ownership over the improvements, the tenant asked...

What Happened: Two years into a five-year lease, a medical center stopped paying rent and abandoned the property. At least that’s what it looked like to the property manager who found the place empty and stripped of all furnishings. The sign on the door indicating that the tenant had closed its business reenforced the manager’s impression that the place was abandoned. But when the landlord sued for unpaid and accelerated rent, the tenant den...

What Happened:    J.C. Penney (JCP) subleased commercial property to Klairmont at below-market rates. Later, it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, giving it the right to assume or reject its commercial leases.

 What Happened:  Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: A restaurant tenant struggled to pay rent after the governor issued a COVID-19 shutdown order in March 2020. In August, the landlord sued for breach of lease. The tenant admitted to owing the landlord rent but claimed impossibility and impracticability. The court rejected both...

What Happened: Frustrated by the landlord’s failure to remedy unsanitary conditions at the site, a warehouse tenant moved out of the property and stopped paying rent. In the lawsuit that followed, the tenant claimed the landlord violated the implied warranty of habitability. The court rejected the defense and awarded the landlord damages and attorney fees.

Ruling: The Nevada appeals court upheld the lower court’s rulin...