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Facts: A video rental store tenant stopped paying rent after the shopping center’s owner hung “Retail Space for Lease” signs in the windows and invited real estate brokers and potential lessees to tour the space. The tenant claimed that the owner’s actions decreased its sales and discouraged customers from coming into the store. It also asserted that the signs made its creditors concerned about the financial health of the busines...
Facts: A shopping center owner sued one of its tenants, challenging the enforceability of lease provisions conditioning the tenant’s obligation to open a store and pay rent on a specific retailer operating a store in the center on the commencement date of the lease. It also challenged the tenant’s option to terminate the lease if the retailer ceased operations and was not replaced by another, acceptable retailer within 12 months.
Facts: A supermarket customer fell and was injured in the parking lot at the shopping center. She sued the tenant, claiming that the fall occurred because of a defective and dangerous condition there. The tenant notified the customer that the center’s owner was responsible for the lot’s upkeep. It provided the customer with the lease that identified the owner and stated that it was responsible for the center’s common area, including th...
Facts: A tenant operating a securities firm moved out of its office building space three and a half years before the end of the lease term and stopped paying rent. The owner of the office building sued the tenant.
Facts: As part of its lease for space in a shopping center, a retail tenant signed a guaranty, in which the tenant personally guaranteed payment of rent in the event that the business couldn’t pay. The tenant later encountered financial difficulties and fell behind on its rent. The owner agreed to sign a termination agreement with the tenant, ending the lease.
Facts: A restaurant tenant approached the owner of the space it rented to discuss renewing its lease. It orally requested a renewal, but didn’t put the request in writing, as required by the renewal provisions in its lease. Later, when the owner refused to renew the lease, the tenant sued. A trial court ruled in favor of the owner. The tenant appealed.
Decision: A Texas appeals court upheld the decision in favor of the owner...
Facts: An owner signed a lease with a tenant that intended to operate a private school in its space after performing extensive renovations. After the owner wasn’t able to obtain an amended certificate of occupancy that would permit the tenant to operate a school, rather than a traditional commercial business the space was zoned for, the tenant sued. It claimed that the owner expressly warranted that it would apply for the amendment immediately, bu...
Facts: Both a tenant and owner of office space were sued by the widow of a visitor to the building who slipped and fell on a wet surface in the vestibule and died from his injuries. The tenant and owner each asked a trial court for a judgment in its favor without a trial. The trial court dismissed the case. The widow appealed.
Decision: A New York appeals court upheld the decision of the lower court in favor of the owner and tenan...
Facts: A warehouse owner agreed to completely remodel the space into a daycare facility for a tenant. The owner paid for the improvements up front, but the tenant was required to pay back the amount in increments during the lease term, separate from monthly rent. After the tenant filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, it rejected its lease.
Facts: If at any time during the lease a shopping center owner was unable to meet a cotenancy requirement, its tenant was permitted to pay a reduced “substitute rent.” The lease also provided that all disputes arising under the lease and regarding amounts less than $50,000 were to be settled by arbitration; disputes exceeding $50,000 require mediation. However, if one of the parties refused to mediate, it could resort to litigation.